LIONS WERE LOVABLE LOSING TEAM IN 2021
The 2021 Detroit Lions might have been the most fun threewin team in NFL history.
While this season’s iteration of the team lost more games than last season’s (which finished 5-11), the ’21 squad managed to win over a lot more fans.
In fact, it can be reasonably argued that this year’s team won over more of the Detroit fanbase than all three of the teams combined that Matt Patricia coached during his failed stint in the Motor City.
The biggest difference between those teams and this year’s: The team’s present head man, Dan Campbell.
As soon as he landed the job in late January of last year, there was a noticeable contrast between him and Patricia.
His natural — and also Starbucks-induced — energy and bravado injected a sense of life into the franchise that had been missing during the Patricia days. He quickly gained the respect and trust of the players inside the locker room, something that Patricia could have only dreamt of during his time in Detroit.
Throughout the course of the 2021 campaign, it led to the first-year Lions head coach frequently getting the most out of his often depleted roster.
It was on display yet again Sunday, as his players fought until the final whistle to secure a 37-30 win against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. In doing so, they embodied the relentless mentality of their 45-year-old sideline boss.
“I think what fires you up the most is the fact that we complemented each other. I think that is the most important thing as a team that you can do. It really doesn’t matter that it was the score that it was, 37-30. It was the fact that, man, when our team needed it, our defense got a stop, got a turnover. And, offensively, when our defense needed some help, we found a way to score some points,” Campbell said after the game, when talking about his team giving a full four-quarter effort during the Week 18 tilt. “And so, I think that’s what a good team is. It could be the same thing if it’s 12-10. But, that’s what I thought was very evident and what made me really proud about this game. We did that. It was a great team effort.”
There was no way you were telling Campbell that his squad didn’t belong on the same field as the NFC North champion Packers.
He was relentless in his pursuit of victory, dialing up trick play after trick play (as he had done all season long).
The Lions’ first touchdown in the Week 18 tilt, in fact, resulted from some solid “trickery” on behalf of Campbell.
With 1:40 remaining in the first quarter, Campbell designed a play that initially went to Amonra St. Brown off a Jared Goff handoff. But, once the rookie wideout got the ball, he tossed it to Tom Kennedy, who then found a wide open Kalif Raymond downfield for a 75yard touchdown pass.
It was the longest pass by a wideout since Cedric Tillman of the Broncos tossed an 82-yard touchdown in 1992, the year before I was born.
“Yeah, that was really cool. We kind of repped it all week. Had some auditions for the receivers of who was going to throw it, and he (Kennedy) won in the middle of the week,” Goff said during his postgame media session. “We talked about kind of emptying the chamber, and that was one of them. We had two of them today, trick plays that both scored. It was pretty much exactly how you draw it up.”
St. Brown echoed the sentiment that the play was perfectly drawn up.
“Actually, before that play that Tom Kennedy threw, I’m lined up and all I hear from the sideline is, ‘No. 14’s getting the ball coming across. No. 14’s getting the ball.’ And I’m just smiling, because I already know what’s going to happen,” St. Brown commented after the game. “I get the ball, give it to T.K. (Kennedy), try to protect the edge, (do) whatever I can. And, T.K. just throws a dime to Kalif (Raymond). So, it was perfect.”
Early in the second half, Campbell, the master of trickery these days, had yet another trick play up his sleeves. It involved Goff and St. Brown again, and it also featured two new characters: running back Jamaal Williams and tight end Brock Wright.
It started with a handoff from Goff to Williams, who tossed it to St. Brown. St. Brown then proceeded to flick it back to Goff, who connected with Wright for the 36-yard score. It was a beautiful execution of the flea-flicker.
It was easy to tell that Campbell and the Lions were having some fun against their division rivals, all while providing Sunday’s Ford Field crowd with something to root for all afternoon long.
“They’re passionate, very passionate. I think you saw it today,” Goff said, when asked for his thoughts regarding Lions fans. “Whatever our record is versus the best team in the NFC, and they were there. They were there, they were jumping, they were loud. You heard a little, ‘Go, Pack, go,’ going, and they got louder than that to shut it out. It’s stuff like that that means a lot to us, and we can hear it. We feel it, and we feed off it. And, hopefully (we) give them something to look forward to next year.”
The Week 18 contest was very similar to how the rest of the season went for Campbell & Co.
Despite all the hardships encountered by the organization over the course of this past year, including a myriad of gutwrenching losses and players missing time due to both injury and illness, Detroit managed to give off the impression of a fairly competitive team on a week-to-week basis.
The Lions’ relentless nature endeared the team to the city of Detroit, and won over a large sect of fans that had become despondent during the Patricia era.
In a sense, the Lions became the “lovable losers” of the city of Detroit in 2021.
It was cute and all for the organization this past season. But, it’s not going to fly with the fanbase over the long haul.
The onus is on Campbell & Co. to turn all the fun and close calls into actual wins in 2022.