Feature Story: Lions and their Journey || Headlines

Edition #46

Headlines

Jim HARBUAGH SIGNS WITH THE LOS ANGELES CHARGERS

Vic Fangio = Eagles New DC

McCaffrey is a finalist for MVP

Domingo German and the Orioles are thinking about a deal

Bubba Thompson to → Twins

Dodger Stadium Gondola Project Suspended

Steph and Dray hold off tears for Dejan Milojevic’s death

DIAMONDBACKS SIGN JOC PEDERSON

Feature Story: Lions and the Journey

The last time the Lions were in the playoffs, many people/things who are important in our lives today didn’t exist.

For example, Chipotle wasn’t there in 1992. Ken Griffey Jr. was still playing. The Dream Team was formed by Team USA and Pakistan won its first ever World Cup.

But the main thing is, the Detroit hasn’t won a Super Bowl in the Super Bowl era and are only 1 of 4 teams to not do so. Actually, they’re one of the 4 teams that haven’t even made it to the game yet…

Their first time in the playoffs came in 1992 when they had a franchise record 12 win season and then beat up the Cowboys in the divisional round to get a date with Washington. That’s when they lost 41-10… Which ended an inspired run in an emotional season and marked the start of the team’s 32-year championship game drought.

The Lions were in DC after a 7 game winning streak, which began in Week 12 after a big tragedy. On the first play of the fourth quarter of Detroit’s 21-10 defeat of the Los Angeles Rams, Lions right guard Mike Utley suffered a spinal cord injury that left him largely paralyzed from the chest down.

Utley flashed the thumbs-up sign as he was carried off the field, and the gesture became a rallying cry for the team, which dedicated the remainder of its season to the 25-year-old.

The Lions were 13½-point underdogs against Washington, which was seeking its fourth Super Bowl appearance in nine seasons. Joe Gibbs’s squad had gone 14-2 and outscored its opponents by 261 points during the regular season.

Washington was 8-1 at RFK Stadium on the season which includes the trashing of the Atlanta Falcons 24-7. Washington opened the season winning against the Lions 45-0. on Sunday Night Football. That was when Barry Sanders injured his ribs…

From then all the way to now, it’s been a long journey. Losing seasons and losing seasons. Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers all there in GB for 13+ season, making it extra hard to win. The Lions have always had it tough. The Lions are the only team in the conference championship games that did not make the playoffs last season. And they probably should’ve made it to the playoffs, but of course, Aaron Rodgers doesn't something he wasn’t supposed to do, win.

The wild-card game against the Los Angeles Rams was their first home playoff win since 1991. The fans have certainly been patient.

The Lions' win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers marked the first time in 67 years that the Lions won two playoff games in the same season. You have to go back to 1957 for the last time it happened.

Dan Campbell is just another type of guy…

He has way too many quotes, but one of his more memorable quotes is, "We're gonna kick you in the teeth, and when you punch us back, we're gonna smile at you, and when you knock us down, we're going to get up, and on the way, we're going to bite a kneecap off."

His first season with the team was 2021, when the team went 3-13, was last in the division and had a -142 point differential. The next season, the team went 9-8, their first winning season since 2017 and came in second in the division. Now the team is just one win away from a Super Bowl appearance and this season had a +66 point differential.

The Lions.

They tied their franchise-record wins this season, going 12-5.

Now, that’s crazy.

But before I go rambing onto anything else, I want to tell more about what it was like it 1991-92.

Billboard's No. 1 song in the U.S. was "Black or White" by Michael Jackson. At the 1992 Grammy Awards, "Tears In Heaven" by Eric Clapton would win record and song of the year.

The No. 1 movie in the U.S. was "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle." At the 1992 Academy Awards, "The Silence of the Lambs" would win best picture, with Anthony Hopkins taking best actor and Jodie Foster taking best actress for their roles in the movie.

You couldn't even text anybody when the Lions made the NFC championship game during the 1991 season. Text messaging was even a thing until December 1992. Even crazier, the flip phone was still four years away from being introduced.

You also wouldn't have been able to just look up the Lions; Google was six years away from being founded. If you wanted to play with the Lions team in a video game, you needed a Nintendo Entertainment System to play the iconic football video game of the era, Tecmo Super Bowl, or the Sega Genesis to play John Madden Football '92, which was just the second installment of what would become the premier annually released video game franchise.

The current players on the Detroit Lions were not around to watch the Lions play in the NFC title game. In fact, there is only one player on the current roster who did and that was long snapper, Jake McQuaide.

The last time the Lions were in the NFC championship game, the Tennessee Titans, Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans didn't exist yet.

This is only just a bit of it, but that’s all I can fit in this newsletter about this section.

But let’s learn a bit more about Dan Campbell.

Campbell possesses 25 years of NFL experience, including 14 years as a coach and 11 as a player. In his first year as the Lions' head coach, Campbell helped instill a new culture built on grit, conviction and collaboration on and off the field. Upon arrival, Campbell assembled a proven coaching staff comprised of several former NFL players that have brought a wealth of knowledge and passion to Detroit's roster.

Yeah.

He did that much even though they went 3-13-1.

I personally thought the Lions were going to rebuild and this season was going to be their last rebuilding season before they go 8-9 and miss the playoffs, but I was completely wrong about that.

The thing is, Dan Campbell is coming back “home”. He used to be a tight end for

the Detroit Lions!

Now, look at Jared Goff’s improvement each year…

Yup.

And this is Jared Goff in the playoffs so far.

If you’re reading this and expecting expert analysis on the game, that’s here.

Amon-Ra St. Brown on the other hand, was drafted by Dan Campbell and voilà.

Crazy stats this year, huh?

Btw, this is is full name.

Amon-Ra Julian Heru J. St. Brown

I’ve seen longer, but that’s not average…

The main strength point of this Detroit Lions team though is the Offensive Line.

I’m going to now tell you stats from December 18th after that broncos game as evidence for this.

The Lions full healthy line consists of Taylor Decker, Jonah Jackson, Frank Ragnow, Graham Glasgow and Penei Sewell.

Here are plus points of this group being together.

• The Lions are 5-0 with this group on the field

• They average 38.4 points per game with this group

• They average 421.2 yards per game with this group

• They average 179.4 rushing yards per game with this group

• That's 5.5 yards per carry

• Jared Goff has a passer rating of 121.7 when this group is blocking for him.

That’s damn good.

Also, I found a reddit that said, Lions are 4-0 against red colored teams.

I cracked up looking at this. I cannot believe the fact that was the case…

By the way, last thing about Dan Campbell.

Bill Parcell sent a message to him and it was a nice 2 word message.

Congratulations shoes.

Yes.

Shoes.

What was his response to this?

"Did you watch the game the other night, San Francisco-Green Bay?" Campbell said. "With all the slips, the falls? That’s Coach Parcells, classic. He’ll always give you some substance."

And with that, we end our Friday edition. By Sunday, we will have our Super Bowl contenders and our NFC and AFC Champions. Next week, we will have our special Edition #50 which I’m super excited about, and yeah! Make sure to subscribe if you liked the newsletter.