The circumstances are quite a bit better for Detroit coach Dan Campbell since the previous time the Lions visited his home state.
The Texas native has led the Lions to their first division title in 30 years, and the NFC North champs aren't out of the running for the top seed in the NFC heading into Saturday night's visit to the Dallas Cowboys.
A season ago, the Lions lost to Dallas, where Campbell spent three of his 10 seasons an NFL tight end, to drop to 1-5 — and 4-18-1 since he took over as coach.
Detroit is 19-7 since then, and headed to the playoffs for just the fourth time in 24 seasons. The Lions (11-4) share the best record in the NFC with San Francisco and Philadelphia.
Campbell's focus is more on the second seed than the top spot and the bye that goes with it.
"We checked the box on one thing and now it's to the next one and so at this point, now, we're fighting for the two seed," Campbell said. "If you're able to get to the one, so be it. But right now, what we know we can achieve on our own is the two and that's no easy task."
Dallas (10-5) has a 15-game home winning streak — the club's longest in 42 years — but is coming off consecutive losses for the first time since 2021.
There is still hope for the Cowboys to overtake the Eagles in the NFC East, but they need help. The clearest path is winning out while the New York Giants upset Philadelphia in the regular-season finale.
For now, the Cowboys want to focus on getting themselves right for the playoffs, and the likelihood of going on the road again. They won a wild-card game at Tampa Bay last season before losing at the Niners.
"I'd like to think that we've been focused that way all year," coach Mike McCarthy said. "We've been talking about getting to 11 wins, and we're still not there. We understand what our opponent is fighting for this week, and I think it creates a lot of juice for this game."
The Cowboys will put two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Jimmy Johnson in the club's ring of honor at halftime.
Owner/general manager Jerry Jones is the sole decider on who gets in, and has faced questions for years after the acrimonious end to their partnership in 1994 coming off consecutive Super Bowl titles.
"Honestly well overdue," quarterback Dak Prescott said. "I didn't watch Jimmy Johnson's days. I was young. But growing up a Cowboys fan, knowing the history, knowing everything that he accomplished honestly in a short time, yeah, overdo. Just glad that it's happening."
For the first time in Detroit history, two players (running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs) have produced at least eight rushing touchdowns in the same season.
"They're both starting backs in this league for really any team," quarterback Jared Goff said. "To have them both on the same team and have them both be able to complement each other so well, it makes us dangerous."
Prescott and Goff are in the top five in yards passing and touchdowns. Prescott is fifth with 3,892 yards and a league-leading 30 TD passes. Goff is third with 3,984 yards and 27 TDs, looking for his second season with at least 30 scoring passes.
They both were drafted in 2016, Goff at No. 1 overall by the Los Angeles Rams and Prescott as a somewhat-forgotten 135th overall choice in the fourth round. That was after Dallas tried to trade into the first round to get Paxton Lynch, losing out to Denver.
Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown is the fourth player in NFL history with 300 catches in his first three seasons. A strong finish would give him a chance for the most receptions ever after three years. He's at 302. Minnesota's Justin Jefferson leads with 324.
With 106 yards against the Vikings, St. Brown became the fourth Lions receiver to have eight 100-yard games in a season. He has 14 for his career, fifth in team history.
Lions pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson (63) ranks second behind Cowboys' Micah Parsons (65) in most quarterback hurries this season. Hutchinson also ranks second in quarterback hits with 18, while San Francisco's Nick Bosa has 19.
Hutchinson had four quarterback hits and a pass defense in the win at the Vikings that clinched the NFC North.
"It was cool, we were all dancing around, but after about 10 minutes it was time to get ready for the playoffs and get ready for this,'' Hutchinson said. "… You can win the division and then at the end of the year lose in the playoffs and say 'at least we won the division' but that's not the mentality I want.''
