Lions keep rolling on road, look like best in NFC
Campbell says away games feel like home thanks to fans
Once upon a time, NFL stadiums used to be treacherous places for visitors.
The Raiders’ infamous Black Hole section at Oakland Coliseum loved to pelt opposing players with beer, chicken bones and every epithet they could think of about their mothers.
Philadelphia Eagles fans chucked batteries at opponents and once, in 1968, even hurled snowballs and a chorus of boos at Santa Claus. Yes, Santa.
Things have mellowed in the NFL, but it’s still hard to win on the road. Just ask the Eagles and the 49ers after their Sunday losses. It only makes the Lions’ success away from home that much more impressive and the theme of this week’s installment of the Road to the Playoffs.
After Sunday’s 20-6 win at Tampa, the Lions improved to 7-1 in their past eight road games dating to mid-November last year. That’s essentially a season’s worth of road games. Chicago, Green Bay, New York, Kansas City, and now Tampa. All hostile environments — OK, maybe not Tampa, which has a cheesy pirate ship that makes the stadium look like a discount theme park — that the Lions have humbled.
I asked Dan Campbell on Monday for the secret to his success on the road.
“Well, first of all, they’re not really road games,” the Lions coach said to a chorus of chuckles. “That’s what it feels like anyway. We’ve got significant fan support on the road right now.”
Campbell was even understating it. I wasn’t at the game, but a Lions staffer who was on the field confirmed that the fans’ ear-splitting celebration at Raymond James Stadium of Jameson Williams’ 45-yard touchdown catch sounded like it was happening at Ford Field.
Even Campbell noted how hard it must have been for Baker Mayfield to operate.
“Their offense is out there,” he said, “and I
swear they’re about to go to silent cadence at their own home because it’s loud. I’m like, I think I would tell our guys to go silent cadence if it was this loud.
“And, man, that’s something else. I mean, who — seriously, this is pretty awesome.”
The Lions have the best fans in the NFL, when you consider how little reason the team has given fans to stick with it since 1957. (Browns fans, with a title drought dating back to 1964, are up there, too.)
So it shouldn’t be too surprising that fans have been waiting for more than a half-century to erupt this way.
That’s a big plus because the defense usually
has to rely on providing its own energy on the road. But Campbell said there’s also a unique attitude about this team that makes it successful away from home.
“I think that going on the road and it’s just you against them, their crowd,” he said. “I think we kind of thrive off of that and I think that’s a mindset and I think that’s where it starts.”
The road wins last year were pretty close. This year, it’s different. The Lions have outscored their three opponents on the road, 7546, while knocking off the defending champs and a division leader in the process.
Yep, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens will be tough in Baltimore. But I just don’t see how you pick against the Lions right now, even on the road. With a win, they’ll be off to their first 6-1 start since 1956.
Still No. 3, but maybe No. 1
There was no drastic change in the NFC’s seeding at the top, even though the No. 1 49ers and No. 2 Eagles both lost their first games of the season and joined the Lions at 5-1.
Thanks to the Cowboys’ win Monday night, they moved ahead of No. 6 seed Seattle, who would make a return trip to Detroit for the wildcard round.
What I’m more interested in is the way the Eagles and Niners lost — namely, in avoidable ways that I don’t think the Lions would have fallen prey to.
The Eagles’ loss to the Jets came down to Jalen Hurts throwing an interception on third down near midfield while leading by two points. If he throws it away, the Eagles are probably 6-0 after they punt and force the Jets to go at least 80 yards in less than two minutes.
The Niners lost at Cleveland because of Jim Schwartz’s defense and Jake Moody’s leg. Also, because the Niners kicked off before the Lions, Kyle Shanahan didn’t get a chance to steal any of Ben Johnson’s plays.
Moody, the former Michigan and Northville High star, should have made the 41-yard attempt. But it came on third down. Shanahan had time to try to get Moody closer, since he’s 7-for-7 inside 40 yards. He’s only 3-for-5 from at least 40.
Placekicking is the one concern I still have left for the Lions, especially after Riley Patterson’s miss from 52 yards. But I don’t think Jared Goff would make the same mistake Hurts made, and Campbell would have gotten Patterson as close as possible.
The Lions enter Week 7 as the No. 3 seed. But stats and tiebreakers only tell you so much, because sometimes you’ve got to go off what you see and feel. And it definitely looks and feels like the Lions are the NFC’s best team. Call that an act of faith if you want, like believing in Santa or that the people of Philadelphia have learned their lesson after their cruel attack on a divine stadium visitor half a century ago.