Getty Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell walk on the field during Lions training camp in 2021.
The Detroit Lions had a bumpy 2021 season that didn’t finish how anybody wanted, but with that being said, the team still had enough positive things happen that a bright future is being assumed.
General manager Brad Holmes had a front-row seat to the inner-workings of the team all season long, so he would have a better idea than most of where the team is currently at. Holmes may not have been satisfied with the final result, but he was very pleased with some of the themes the team showed last year at various points.
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Specifically, Holmes appreciated what Dan Campbell brought to the mix in Detroit. As he explained joining the Rich Eisen Show, Campbell has the kind of attitude that attracts players and makes them want to stand out on the field. That led to the team staying tough and battling even when the season was completely lost come December and January.
“That’s the great thing about Dan (Campbell). I’ve said from day one, there’s just some elite traits that you have as a head coach and that’s one of them in terms of players believing, players buying in and really, really wanting to play for him and willing to run through a wall for him,” Holmes told Eisen. “I’ve always said, if you go back and look at our practices in Week 16 and 17, you see a young roster, but even the veteran players on our roster coming out in practice and the energy late in the season. We weren’t playing for anything. It was incredible, and that’s when you really know, alright, you’re cooking with some gas now because you know you have a guy like Dan who these players love. They believe in (him). He’s so authentic in everything that he does and it equates to the games. Yeah, we had the (Eagles loss) and you could even go when we played Cincinnati at home. Besides that, I thought that we kind of pushed everybody to the brink and gave them a game. We want to lay a foundation of what we want to be about as a team and the culture. We want to be a gritty group. I do believe we got that foundation laid. Then, we just got to keep doing our part and we got to keep making sure the culture is right. We got to keep adding pieces and improving our roster and just control we can control.”
That’s some big love for not only Campbell’s approach, but the players on the team as well. Past Lions teams have been accused of quitting late in the year, but that was certainly not the case with the team in 2021. Detroit finished with a couple late upset wins over Arizona and Green Bay and impressed by staying together against all odds.
Combined with some additions for 2022, there is optimism the Lions have found a way to turn a corner. If that is to be the case, the never quit attitude Campbell has installed and the way the team responded shows that things are going in the right direction for the future.
Assessing Campbell’s First Season With Lions
Campbell set the tone early promising a tough roster that would scratch and claw in every game and bit by bit, he did live up to his promise as the season went on. The Lions were one of the toughest teams in the league during the 2021 season, even if it did not translate into immediate wins. Detroit was in nearly every game that was played and never backed down. They managed to do this in spite of multiple players being lost due to injury as well as illness outbreaks late in the season. With this in mind, it seems a minor miracle that the Lions beat Minnesota and Arizona, a pair of teams that were in playoff race as well as tying Pittsburgh, a team that ended up in the AFC postseason. In the end, it was an obvious testament to the toughness Campbell preached about on his first day.
Offensively and defensively, there is still much to work out with the roster in terms of improvements and depth, but Campbell did a decent job to managed things overall. He was an aggressive coach on fourth-down, and looks to be an innovator in terms of decision making in those moments. Campbell also rolled the dice appropriately with a multitude of fake punts and onside kicks, showing his vigorous side. When he took over play calling, the offense seemed to improve in a tangible way.
Overall, the arrow is still firmly upward for Campbell, and the sky is still the limit for the Lions as a result.
Lions Trending Upward for 2022 Season
Detroit enjoyed a solid offseason of keeping plenty of their top free agents in-house like safety Tracy Walker, edge rusher Charles Harris and wideout Josh Reynolds while attracting a few top options from outside the market in wideout DJ Chark, safety DeShon Elliott and linebacker Chris Board. The 2022 draft was impressive in that it provided the team’s defense plenty of reinforcements with gritty players that fit their culture and mindset in a huge way. Add it up and it seems as if the Lions are in good shape moving forward combined with Campbell’s mindset and approach with the roster.
If Holmes liked what he saw in 2021, he might love what he sees in 2022 if the Lions can eclipse their modest 3-13-1 record and show more improvement. Given how they battled all season long, that could be a reasonable expectation.
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