Campbell: Lions' Super Bowl window 'is not closed'
Mike Florio and Michael Holley unpack Lions head coach Dan Campbell's recent comments about Detroit's Super Bowl chances for the upcoming season.
Video Transcript
There was something that held my interest in this semi-long story from Eric Woodyard of ESPN.
Dan Campbell declaring to the world that their window is not closed.
Now, he's the guy who said after the 2023 NFC championship, "This may have been our only shot," when they blew a 17-point lead to the 49ers.
He now says the window isn't closed.
"It's not closed.
That was the whole reason why we did this.
We fell short last year.
We needed to get in the playoffs, and now it's about the match-ups, when you're playing, where you're playing, and who you're playing."
That's what happens indeed when you get to the playoffs.
And you have to, you have to win those match-ups.
You can't, you can't urinate down your leg at home when you're the one seed and you're two games away from the Super Bowl and the Commanders come in there and kick the crap out of you.
That's right.
So I don't know if their window's closed.
I know this.
It, it very well could be closed if they don't get back to the playoffs this year, and there's no reason they shouldn't.
They got that fourth place schedule.
In a division that had a two-game spread between first place and fourth place, they get three games far more favorable than the three games that the Bears and Packers are gonna draw.
And they gotta make the most out of those differences and make the most out of that margin, and they gotta win that division again.
I think they can, but if they can't this year, it's time to say the window's closed.
Now, Mike, I, I don't think they have a, a, a perfect roster by any stretch, but they've got a lot of talent.
I, I love a, a lot of their players.
So they're, they're plenty talented enough.
I, I think it just comes down to this question.
If you look at the NFC North, who do you think the Who's the best team in the NFC North?
Do you think the Lions are the best team in the NFC North?
I kind of think they are.
Even though they- On paper, yes didn't do it last year.
I kind of think they are.
So once, once they're in that Once you're in that conversa- Say your window closes when you start looking around your division and there's always somebody in front of you, 'cause that's the easy, the easiest path.
Obviously win the division, you know you're in the playoffs.
And then you can talk, talk about the things that, Campbell mentioned in that piece.
Get in the playoffs, anything can happen.
Depends on the match-ups.
Well, you can kind of take out some of the guesswork if you look locally and say, "Well, we're the best team in our division.
We expect to win the division.
Then we'll go from there."
That's what all the dynastic teams have been able to count on over the years.
Whether it was the Steelers or Niners or Patriots, Cowboys.
They dominated their division, they got into the playoffs, and we'd look around and say, "Well, why are they in it every year?"
Well, 'cause they're always in the playoffs.
They're always in the playoffs, so they got a shot.
I think the Lions are still Despite what happened last year, I, I look at that division, I still think they're the best team.
I agree with you, and what they do within the division is always going to be important.
That's always been the focus for the head coaches of any team.
Try to go 6 and 0 in your own division.
Chances are you're gonna win the division if you go 6 and 0 in the division.
You're gonna have to have a full-blown collapse outside of the division, and you're gonna have all the tiebreakers if you go 6 and 0 within your division.
Here's my point, though.
To illustrate the value to the Lions to ultimately landing in last place in the NFC North and securing the last place schedule, which only affects three games.
The other 14 are all the result of a formula.
Three games.
The Lions will play the Titans, the Giants, and the Cardinals.
For that three-game patch, the Packers, who finish second, instead of playing the Titans, Giants, and Cardinals, they play the Jaguars, Cowboys, and Rams.
Oof.
That's a significant difference.
Wow.
Yeah.
That's a significant difference right there.
Now, all due respect to the Titans and Giants, they may be much improved this year, but going into this season, based on what we've seen recent years, give me Titans, Giants, Cardinals any day over Jaguars, Cowboys, Rams.
The Bears, for winning the division, they get the Eagles, the Texans, and the Seahawks.
So degree of difficulty for winning the division last year, and the Lions stumble into this fourth place schedule where they get to play the Giants, Titans, and Cardinals, and they can avoid those three tougher games that both the Packers and the Bears have to play.
So that could be the difference.
Last year, 11 and 6 won the division.
9 and 8 got you last place.
Two games.
And these three critical games much more difficult for the Bears and Packers than for the Lions.
Yeah, that's a, that's a huge difference.
And you probably make yeah, the, the Bears would take what the Lions have any day of the week.
I mean, those three games, you know, Titans, Titans, Cardinals, and what was the other team?
Giants.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, the Titans, the Cardinals, and the Giants.
And, and n- not that this will Maybe this won't put them over the top, but, the, the Lions' new offensive coordinator, where was he last year?
He was with the Cardinals.
So he, not only are, are you playing a team that is, that is not, one of the b- top teams in the league, theoretically you've got one of your coaches who knows exactly, how the Cardinals think and what their personnel is.
And so you've got a lot of advantages, including an opponent who you should run over.
But w- I, I, I guess, I mentioned the offensive coordinator The new OC.
And they had a, they had one last year in John Morton following Ben Johnson.
That's a tough act to follow.
It was an impossible act to fol- follow for John Morton because, he lost his job and Dan Campbell took over.
Drew Petzing this year, that's a quest- I mean, that's a legitimate question mark for the Lions because in this tight division, as you pointed out, they had an innovative, unpredictable offensive coordinator in Ben Johnson, who really was a secret weapon for them, a not-so-secret weapon.
Can they bring that back?
Not that Ben Johnson made Jahmyr Gibbs.
Jahmyr Gibbs would be good, with him or without him.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, good with or without him.
But just knew how to tap into every aspect, every crevice of the offense to get the most out of it.
Can the Lions get back to that?
That's a big question.
Well, and great players tend to make coaches seem better than they otherwise would be, and they've got Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs.
The offensive line dipped last year, and that suddenly makes the other players seem not as great when the offensive line isn't blocking.
But I made this comment yesterday, in all due respect to Drew Petzing, they're, they're acting like they reanimated Bill Walsh in Detroit.
And, you know, they had too much hype last year on John Morton.
Just 'cause you talk the guy up doesn't mean he's gonna be any good.
If anything, it's gonna put more pressure on him, and, you know, he's either gonna try to do too much, he's gonna come up with some trick play that's too forced because he's trying to, trying to one-up Ben Johnson.
I, I I'll believe it when I see it.
They thought they had the answer last year and they didn't.
They think they have the answer this year.
We'll find out if they do.
One last point.
The schedule sets up for the Lions to get off to a good start.
They've got the Saints at home.
They're at the Bills.
They got the Jets at home.
They're at the Panthers.
They're at the Cardinals, and then they have their bye.
That's 4-1.
That's 4-1, in my opinion.
And- You say, well now 4-1- You know what?
They were 4-1 last- they were 4-1 last year too, and then it all fell apart.
Just to be clear, you're saying that's 4-1 with the obvious loss being to the Jets.
Yes.
Yes.
The powerhouse Jets who are on their way to finishing third in the AFC East and costing me one of three dinners this year.
So- You watch out.
Yeah.
I, I- You watch out.
I'm telling you.
They're the surprises assume the loss is gonna be the I assume, I assume the loss is gonna be the Bills at the season home opener at the new stadium, but who knows?
They may be a little Man, I don't know.
The Lions would love to go in there and crash that party.
They w- I was there when they crashed the party after the Chiefs won their second Super Bowl few years ago.
That was the first night I was like, "Man, these Lions fans are legit."
The Honolulu Blue was all over the place.
It's like, "What in the hell is going on with the Lions?"
That was '23.
That was the year after.
Remember they had that week 18 game against the Packers where they knocked Aaron Rodgers out of the playoffs in his last game at Green Bay?
And that just lit something in that fan base.
They were ready to go the next year.
They were ready to go, and they, they rained on the, that banner raising in Kansas City.
They may rain on the christening of the new stadium in Buffalo as well.
We'll see.
