When talking about the surprise contenders of last NFL season, there’s no doubt the Detroit Lions were among the teams many saw as legitimate title threats. Head coach Dan Campbell was one of the main architects behind that impressive campaign, and he’s hoping to run it back as the team looks ahead to what’s next.
As the first offseason moves begin to take shape across the league, the team led on the field by Jared Goff will look to build on last years’ success — and perhaps even dream of going further this time around.
In a recent conversation with the media, Campbell spoke about what lies ahead, making it clear to the rest of the league that facing these Lions won’t be an easy task — even as he acknowledged that his team will also have to go up against some top-tier competition.
“We’ve gotten to where we’ve gotten because we haven’t been complacent and we have gone and put the work in again,” Campbell told reporters. “Done all the little things that you have to do to win games and win the division again, so we’ve got to do that all over again. And yeah, they do have to play us.
“I just think the challenge of it is what you really love. It’s why you love this game. The NFL, that’s why it’s at its best. Not only here at home, our own division, going on the road, I mean some of these teams, it’s awesome, man. To me, by the end of the year we ought to be just scarred up. We should be scarred up and ready to go, hardened for battle, and ready for the playoffs. It’ll be nothing easy about it. Just to get through our own division is gonna be brutal, but it’s the right kind of brutal.“
The return of key players
The upcoming season will mark the return to the field of a key piece in Dan Campbell’s system: Aidan Hutchinson. The star pass rusher suffered a serious injury last season that kept him sidelined for an extended period of time. “There’s nothing to tell me that he’s not recovered or going to be recovered,” Campbell said regarding the edge’s recovery.
In addition, the veteran head coach addressed the situation of Jameson Williams, who will now be working under new offensive coordinator John Morton.
“He’s got a ton of growth left,” Campbell said of Williams. “He’s had a good spring, and I don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves in OTAs, but there’s so much versatility with him. There’s so many things we can do just with his routes on the outside. I mean we can do things inside, but just with his speed, and he’s gotten so much stronger, his ability to stop, put his foot in the ground — when you can run like he can run and now you get to where you can stop on a dime, you talk about a hard cover. … We expect him to have a huge season. We really do, man. He’s going to be one of these guys that we’re going to lean on this year and is really going to be big for us.”
The Lions’ early games
To establish themselves as true contenders in the upcoming NFL season, starting off on the right foot will be absolutely crucial:
- vs Green Bay Packers, September 7th
- vs Chicago Bears, September 14th
- vs Baltimore Ravens, September 22nd
- vs Cleveland Browns, September 28th
- vs Cincinnati Bengals, October 5th
SURVEY Who will win the NFC North this season?
Who will win the NFC North this season?
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