The Detroit Lions have been on a historic pace throughout the 2024 season. They’ve dismantled most of their opponents with relative ease in all three phases of the game, but their campaign hit a speed bump in Week 15.
The Lions suffered a 48-42 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, snapping their winning streak of 11 consecutive games. The Lions have hopes of capturing their first Lombardi Trophy in franchise history, but their campaign may be on the brink of collapse. The Lions have been plagued by injuries throughout the season, and significant losses have hit the team nearly every week.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell isn’t panicking or giving up just yet, however. Instead, he’s searching for the silver lining in the team’s recent struggles.
Dan Campbell hasn’t lost hope in his injury-riddled roster
Campbell sent an impassioned message to the fanbase during an interview with Detroit radio station 97.1 The Ticket on Tuesday.
"You win 11 [games] in a row, and you lose, and the sky falls,” Campbell said. "What happens is, you get used to eating filet, and I'm talking all of us. And everything's good, life's good, you know? But you forgot what it was like when you had nothing and you ate your f***ing molded bread. And it was just fine, and it gave you everything you needed. And sometimes you got to get punched in the mouth and remember what it used to be like to really appreciate where you are. And we'll do that. And so, we got a bad taste in our mouth, we got kicked around the other day, we lost a few guys and you know what? It's exactly what we needed. This is exactly what we needed."
The Lions have managed to find success despite their piling injuries, but any more losses may prove to be insurmountable for their depleted roster. Before Sunday, the Lions had 18 players on injured reserve — 15 of which were defensive players.
Detroit’s injured reserve list only grew more crowded after their loss against Buffalo. Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill suffered a season-ending ACL injury, cornerback Carlton Davis III suffered a broken jaw, cornerback Khalil Dorsey exited with a fractured leg and running back David Montgomery suffered a torn MCL. Of those four players, only Davis has a chance to return before the Super Bowl in February.
“We’re going to bounce back, we’re going to respond,” Campbell said. “We’ve got guys that are about to have an unbelievable opportunity here, and we will play the game any way needed to win. We still got a good offense, we got plenty of defensive players. … We’re going to put the best 11 [players] on the field, we’re going to freaking cut it loose, we’re going to play with our special teams. And I don’t give a crap if we’ve got to win by one point for the rest of the year, that’s what we’re going to do, and I’m going to be happy about it. … We’re going to find a way, and we’re going to get it done.”
.@lions head coach Dan Campbell gave a passionate speech to #lions fans this morning with @costaandjansen pic.twitter.com/c0uUWHPDwl
— 97.1 The Ticket: (@971theticketxyt) December 17, 2024
With three games remaining in the 2024 regular season, the race for the NFC’s top seed has tightened up. Detroit is still clinging onto to the No. 1 seed spot for now, but they have little room to breathe after the loss. The Lions are in a three-team tie for the top seed with the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings, who also possess a 12-2 record.
The Lions own the divisional tiebreaker over the Vikings, and they beat out the Eagles in conference tiebreakers due to their conference record. If Campbell and Co. lose another game, they’ll likely miss out on the coveted playoff bye week, and they could potentially even lose home-field advantage.