I loved the guy when he was here. Great to see him having some success. The Lions were able to finish the 2022 season with a winning record thanks to a road win over the Packers that saw them take the lead in the fourth quarter with a rushing touchdown and then keep the previous season’s MVP quarterback from putting his team back on top. The start to the 2023 season didn’t look terribly different. David Montgomery’s rushing touchdown with seven minutes to play put the Lions up 21-20 and they did not 2022 MVP Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to pick up a first down on either of their final two possessions. The win gave the Lions their first 1-0 start since 2017, but head coach Dan Campbell said at his postgame press conference that it didn’t teach him anything new about a team that’s coming into this season with high expectations. “I didn’t learn anything. I got verification of what I already knew,” Campbell said. “And this is a resilient team. It already was a resilient team, and we added pieces to that resilient team. We’re built to handle some stuff, and we did that today against a very good opponent.” Campbell might not have learned anything about his team, but a win like that on a stage like that likely justified some of the offseason hype around the Lions for people outside the organization. More of the same in the weeks to come would leave little doubt that these aren’t the same old Lions.
The nice thing going for Campbell is they appear to actually have someone competent building the roster with him. They've built a nice OL, nice free agency additions, CGJ is a nice addition for them on D and he'll be their heart and soul probably. Aiden Hutchinson is a star in the making too. It was far too early for Dan to be a head coach here when his interim stint ended. I still think he's a bit of a donkey the way he acts and some of the things he says sometimes but got to give him credit he's done a nice job turning things around there. Like any good team though the HC and GM need to be on the same page and it appears they are. The Lions got contributions last night from last years draft picks, and this years as well as their free agent pickups. That makes a huge difference IMO.
The players here seemed to really like him and played well for him. Their OL did look really solid. OC did a good job mixing the run with the pass. Was really hoping we would pick Gibbs, will be interesting to see how our 2 guys picked instead work out.
It would be nice for the Detroit Lions not to be the Detroit Lions of the NFL this season. Loved the win last night!
I think the Lions are my #2 team this season, and I wouldn't be shocked to see them make a playoff run. Super Bowl talk feels a little premature but I'm going to ride or die with my man Motor City Dan Campbell! The real question is- do I pay YouTube? I really don't want to just out of principle, but I'll have to decide by kickoff Sunday.
I don't know if the old school run it, run it, run it, 10 yard play action pass model is going to be effective in the long run. He was very inconsistent with his play calling and decision making. Sometimes too aggressive, sometimes too conservative. Giving the Chiefs a 3rd and 17 as opposed to a 4th and 3 almost bit him in the ***.
I dont think Campbell calls any plays.. but i also dont think head coaches need to call plays to lead a team.. him and deion sanders just know how to motivate and build chemistry but they definitely defer the playcalling.
I was facing the same dilemma, and finally decided after weighing all my viewing options that I just had to suck it up and pay YouTube, it sucks being a fan of a team when you’re out of market but one nice thing they do offer on YouTube is ability to watch multiple games on a single screen at the same time like your own personal red zone
I wasn't going to shell out $350 but once I heard about the student discount for $109 I pulled the trigger. I used my son's trade school receipt to sign up. I didn't know about the ability to watch multiple games at once though. I'll have to play with that today.
He's not the playcaller, and that particular game situation he made the right call. It was gonna be fourth and 1, not 3, and the Chiefs had gone for it 10 times in that down/distance/field location and converted all 10 since Mahomes became starter. He generally is VERY aggressive, which he got from Sean Payton. It will bite him sometimes, but it's calculated and the players do respond. The running game focus is partly from the GM Brad Holmes who went with building a strong OL and RB stable while using Jared Goff as a game manager. I think it can work, but I'm not sold on Goff in the playoffs. He did in his first year, but last year gave the offensive playcalling to Ben Johnson who will be a head coach after this year. He needed his tutelage under Sean Payton, there is A LOT of that in Campbell's coaching. He was still raw with us - the underlying talent was there, but needed some refining. He probably would have struggled through 1-2 years with us and gotten fired.
He doesn't. But like every HC he's got the ability to over rule his OC/DC. Story I heard on Detroit radio here was that the ST coach told him hey... we have the look to run the fake on the punt based on how KC was playing them. He approved it. The rest is history now. Like every HC he ultimately has final say, but he's certainly not calling the plays every down on O or D.
Spot on. His time with Payton was what he needed to get the day to day part down. He's always had the motivator part down, he didn't have the head coach part down. The planning, the delegating, the day to day. He learned alot from Payton to take the parts of being a Parcells style HC and mold it with his own brash alpha attitude. I still just wonder though... how quick does his gimmick wear thin with players in that locker room when things get tough? That'll be his real test. Right now... that team had been pretty bad (even with stafford in the last few years there) that losing was expected. Now they're getting used to winning as they really improved late last year, and carrying over so far into this year. So how will the players handle that, and how will Dan? How will they handle the success, and the inevitable failure that is sure to come as it does for most teams during a season. That game in KC could have easily turned against the Lions, but they caught some breaks and it didn't. If they lost that game though on a Mahommes/KC comeback... how do they deal with that? That's the big question that is still yet to be faced
I did the NFL plus thing for like 79. I can watch the entire game an hour after it is completed and enjoy my Sunday instead of sitting in front of a TV. Works for me.
I lobbied my *** off for us to keep him as our head coach, took a lot of **** from a lot of people too, insulting ****
He would have done better than Gase and Flores but the universe works in mysterious ways. If he was here we likely wouldn't have the genius that is Mike McDaniel. MikeD is the better long term play, dude is innovative and hopefully will be Shula/ Coach Spo 2.0 with the same tenure.
He was too green on the details side of thing when he was here. With nore experience he could have been our guy.
I tend to agree that he was too green. I don't think he's an offensive mind. He's a motivator type coach which is great if you can surround yourself with great OC's. But in the long term I'm not sure. But I do love his attitude and drive.
Not necessarily - he had potential, and maybe people saw that (which is why he was named interim coach), but maybe people saw that he wasn’t quite ready for the top job yet. After some seasoning under Payton was he ready for a head coaching gig, and the Lions recognized that and hired him. Regardless, I’m glad he’s having success in Detroit (their fans deserve some excitement), and wish him well, unless the Lions play Miami - then it will be “Dan who?”
They already went through tough times in his first year and a half and have continued to respond. After a 1-6 start they finished like 8-2 last year. Winning and losing are what will define any coach regardless of their schtick, and they all have it. McDaniel and his stoner genius thing is a schtick. Belichick the tightass is a schtick, Campbell the meathead is a schtick. Like if we miss the playoffs this year, people will start to question McDaniel about being too relaxed, not being enough of a redass, etc. Just win baby.
