Even with a rash of injuries at the worst possible time, Dan Campbell’s Detroit Lions are not giving up on their dreams of winning Super Bowl 59. Far from it. After shellacking the Chicago Bears on Sunday — in a game where Jared Goff and Jahmyr Gibbs pretended to stumble on a trick play — Detroit put itself back in a very healthy position for the NFC’s No. 1 overall seed.
It just needed some help from teams like the Washington Commanders, who were playing the Philadelphia Eagles, a heavyweight squad nipping at the Lions’ heels in the standings.
Thanks to the Eagles’ weird defensive struggles (along with an injury to Jalen Hurts) — boy, did the Lions get it.
As Campbell talked about the Lions’ latest win during his postgame press conference, cheers from the Detroit locker room could be heard in the background. It was clearly in reaction to Jayden Daniels’ game-winning, last-minute touchdown pass against Philadelphia, which was happening at the same time.
When reporters told Campbell the Commanders took the late lead, in turn giving the Lions breathing room for the No. 1 seed, Campbell seemed so happy at the news. He ended up jokingly encouraging everyone in the room to wait the last few seconds of the game out:
The @Lions are keeping a close eye on that race for the NFC #1 seed. pic.twitter.com/uZlORr7ytX
— NFL (@NFL) December 23, 2024
That should tell you everything about the Lions’ current state of mind.
Yes, they’ve been struck by an unfortunate bout of injury luck. Yes, it would’ve been very easy to assume they could no longer make a deep playoff run by virtue of the other NFC superpowers chasing them.
But this Detroit team hasn’t given up. It wants the NFC’s No. 1 seed. Badly.
