Getty Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell sent a message to the team's doubters.
Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions almost always has enthusiasm. But it reached another level after the team defeated the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC wild-card round, 24-23.
Through a text message with Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, the coach expressed his excitement about winning Detroit’s first playoff game in 32 years. But he was also just as eager to deliver a message to the team’s naysayers.
“I’m just so proud of the coaching staff and these players for rewarding Detroit with a home playoff win,” Campbell texted to Breer. “Our fans took it to another level today, and it helped us win! To those fans who have kept the faith, you deserve this! To the doubters, stay off our train—it’s too late for you!”
The Lions will play on divisional weekend for the first time since January 1992. They will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on January 21.
Lions to Host Second Straight Playoff Matchup
The 2023 season has become a season of firsts for the Lions. The team won its first NFC North title, which gave the team its first home playoff game in 30 years. Beating the Rams was Detroit’s first postseason victory since January 1992.
Thanks to the Green Bay Packers winning and eliminating the Dallas Cowboys in the wild-card round, the Lions will host the Buccaneers in the NFC divisional matchup.
It will be the first time ever Detroit hosts two playoff games in the same postseason.
The last time the Lions played back-to-back playoff games at home was the franchise’s first two playoff contests — in 1935 and then 1952.
Lions-Buccaneers to Feature Two Underdog Stories
The Lions have been one of the better teams in the NFC throughout the 2023 season. But even as they accomplished things that no Lions team had done before, not everyone began taking them seriously.
“It’s just been a long time coming. Yes, they’re playing really well, but they are the Detroit Lions,” former Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald said, via SI.com’s All Lions’ John Maakaron, while appearing on Sirius XM Radio’s “Lets Go” NFL recap show in late December.
Fitzgerald called Detroit’s trip to visit the Cowboys in Week 17 a “wonderful test.” The Lions left that game feeling robbed because of a controversial penalty that prevented Detroit from scoring the potential game-winning 2-point conversion.
The Lions received the last laugh, though, as they advanced on wild-card weekend while the Cowboys didn’t.
As for the Buccaneers, they won a Super Bowl just three years ago. But they held a 4-7 record entering December. No one gave them much of a chance to make the playoffs let alone win a postseason game.
Tampa Bay isn’t being considered a real threat to the Lions either. According to ESPN Bet, the Lions are opened as 6-point favorites to beat the Buccaneers.
But that doesn’t matter much to Tampa Bay linebacker Shaquil Barrett.
“So we always come in thinking we got a great chance of winning the game. People see us as the underdog,” Barrett said, via MLive.com’s Kory Woods. “We don’t see ourselves as the underdog, but going into Detroit, it’s just going to be the same thing.”
Somebody’s doubters are going to be very wrong after the Lions and Buccaneers play on January 21. One of these two teams will advance to the NFC championship game.
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