Getty Dan Campbell on the sidelines coaching the Lions against the Eagles.
While the Detroit Lions sat on the sidelines during Week 9, that doesn’t mean the team didn’t spend at least a little time pondering what went wrong in Week 8.
During that game, the Lions were outscored 44-6 by the Philadelphia Eagles while allowing an ugly 350 yards of offense. In all facets, the team simply didn’t get the job done, and that was a major frustration for everyone involved.
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The good news? The team has taken steps toward putting the game in the past, both mentally and physically. During the lead into the bye week, the team buried tape of their performance against Philadelphia. As Campbell explained to DetroitLions.com team reporter Dannie Rogers, shovels were actually involved.
Can confirm– week 8 was buried. Literally. Catch more of my chat with Coach Campbell tonight on @BallySportsDET @ 5:30! 📺 #Lions
“You said put it behind us, it’s really bury it. As a matter of fact, that’s what Aaron Glenn did this (past) week. They watched it, and they went outside and literally buried it under the ground. So, it’s a good way to do it,” Campbell said in the clip.
Rogers made sure to ask Campbell again if the tape had indeed been buried in a literal sense, and he confirmed it.
“It got done. It needed to be. So we learned what we needed to learn from it, and we buried it because we can’t let that happen again,” Campbell explained.
The Lions had to find a way to hit the reset button after a tough start to the season, and perhaps this symbolic gesture will do something to motivate the team. Clearly, the game is in the past now and has been buried in more ways than one ahead of Week 10.
Campbell Has Maintained Lions Close to Winning
Efforts like Week 8’s certainly don’t help the notion that the Lions are close to coming through with a win. That isn’t true for Campbell, who believes the team is close to turning a corner and getting a victory, thanks to the fact that as most folks have noticed, the team is competing hard in game and finding a way to improve even when it looks like they are not on the surface thanks to the losses.
Naturally, that’s a tone that has been echoed by head coach Dan Campbell. Campbell remains steadfast in his believe in the team, and while he admitted frustration with what’s taken place so far when speaking with the media on Monday, October 25 following a loss to Los Angeles, he also said he is built to handle the stress of a frustrating season.
“I do (think the Lions can win) because, bottom line is, we are what our record says we are, but man we are competing. We’re giving ourselves a chance to win these games at the end, which is all you can ask for at this point and know we’re improving,” Campbell told the media at the time.
Specifically, Campbell cited several young players and their development as a reason he thinks the Lions can and will turn the corner soon and get in the win column.
“When I see guys like Alim McNeill and Jerry Jacobs and Levi Onwuzurike and (Derrick) Barnes and Jonah Jackson and (D’Andre) Swift. A ton of these young guys that are just getting better and better, that’s encouraging,” Campbell said. “We’re making strides now and that’s going to pay dividends sooner rather than later.”
If the young players continue to develop and find a way to pull through, it will be a huge feather in the cap for a coaching staff which has them believing thanks to the boss who has never stopped.
Campbell’s Unconventional Methods Creating Buzz in 2021
So far this season, Campbell has not shied away from being an interesting boss. He has gambled on multiple fourth down calls all year long, and had one of the more memorable approaches in recent NFL history during a game when he gambled with multiple fake punts in a game against Los Angeles. From the beginning of his tenure when he referenced kneecap biting until now, there was no question that Campbell was going to be an interesting coach during the season, and with this revelation, that has proven true once again.
Some may call the antic of burying game tape gimmicky, but if it helps the Lions over the top for their first win, it will all be worth it in the end.
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