Even with a series of injuries at the worst possible time, Dan Campbell’s Detroit Lions are not giving up on their dream of winning Super Bowl 59. Far from it. After bombing the Chicago Bears on Sunday — in a game where Jared Goff and Jahmyr Gibbs faked a trick play — Detroit put itself back in a very healthy position for the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
He just needed help from teams like the Washington Commanders, who were facing the Philadelphia Eagles, a heavyweight team trailing the Lions in the standings.
Thanks to the Eagles’ strange defensive struggles (as well as Jalen Hurts’ injury) – boy, did the Lions figure it out.
As Campbell spoke about the Lions’ latest victory during his postgame news conference, cheers from the Detroit locker room could be heard in the background. This was clearly in reaction to Jayden Daniels’ last-minute game-winning touchdown pass against Philadelphia, which was happening at the same time.
When reporters told Campbell that the Commanders took a late lead, giving the Lions some breathing room for the No. 1 seed, Campbell seemed so happy about the news. He ended up jokingly encouraging everyone in the room to wait for the final seconds of the match:
That should tell you everything about the Lions’ current state of mind.
Yes, they were struck by an unfortunate injury. Yes, it would have been very easy to assume that they could no longer make a deep playoff run due to the other NFC superpowers chasing them.
But this Detroit team didn’t give up. He wants the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Seriously.
This article was originally published on For The Win: Dan Campbell was interrupted by Lions players loudly celebrating the Commanders’ victory.
