Dan Campbell

Dan Campbell is envisioning en extended period of success for the Detroit Lions after the team clinched a division title for the first time since 1993 on Sunday.

"This is just the beginning," Campbell said, per Tim Twentyman of detroitlions.com.

The Lions won the NFC North by defeating the Minnesota Vikings by the final score of 30-24. Despite allowing nearly 400 total yards to a Vikings offense led by backup quarterback Nick Mullens, Detroit's defense forced four interceptions and a key stop on Minnesota's final possession of the game to secure the victory.

Campbell has helped completely turn the franchise around since he was hired in Jan. 2021. After a rough 3-13-1 record in his first season leading the team, many were skeptical of his coaching acumen after the Lions got off to a dismal 1-6 start the following year.

However, Detroit ended the 2022 season with an 8-2 finish to secure a winning record for the first time since 2017. The Lions built off that late-season momentum this year, currently owning a 11-4 record. They won eight of their first 10 contests in 2023, marking the organization's best start since 1962.

Not only has Detroit won the NFC North, but the team could earn the No. 1 seed in the conference if the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles falter.

"This is special," Campbell said after the game (via Bobby Kownack of NFL.com). "It's something you don't get to do all the time. They're always special to win a division. I don't care how many of them you get because of the work that goes into it. But to do something that hadn't been done in 30 years for a team is special, and that's a special group of men back in there that are staying tame at this point."

The next streak for Campbell to break comes in the postseason, where the Lions haven't won a game since 1991. That represents the longest active period in the NFL without a playoff victory.

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell wasn't too worried after his team lost to the Chicago Bears by the final score of 28-13 on Sunday.

"I'm not in panic mode," Campbell told reporters after the game, per ESPN's Eric Woodyard. "I'm not losing confidence."

Although the Lions still lead the NFC North with a 9-4 record this season, they've dropped two of their past three games. This included divisional losses to the Green Bay Packers as well as the Bears on Sunday, two teams that currently don't have a winning record.

Despite holding a 13-10 advantage over Chicago at halftime, Detroit was outscored 18-0 in the second half. Jared Goff had a rough day, passing for a mere 161 yards on 35 attempts while throwing two fourth-down interceptions.

The Lions weren't able to lean on their rushing attack as heavily in the second half due to the deficit, although rookie Jahmyr Gibbs and veteran David Montgomery both averaged at least six yards per carry.

The team's run game continued to produce, although the same can't be said for defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn's unit. After allowing 20.6 points per game through the Lions' first eight matchups, the defense is giving up 29.8 points each weekend over the past five games.

Campbell's next opportunity to get his team back on track will come against the Denver Broncos in Week 15.

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell believes his team has a challenge ahead against the Chicago Bears.

Campbell suggested that Bears quarterback Justin Fields poses a major threat in his ability to create plays by using his legs and finding receivers down field.

Per ESPN's Eric Woodyard, Campbell praised Fields' growth from his second season and suggested that the quarterback has become "dangerous."

"Listen, he's dangerous," Campbell said. "He's one of these rare, dangerous players and I'll tell you what he's done a really good job of — from last year to this year — is if it's a pass and he starts to move, he's still moving with eyes down the field much more than I felt like he had previously and that's extremely dangerous because even in Minnesota, he had two or three receivers wide open after he had kind of run, found a way through, broke contain and all of a sudden he gets an explosive pass off of it.

"But he is dangerous, and everything starts with him, for us defensively, and containing these guys."

Despite the Bears' struggles, Fields has had a solid third season in the NFL. He's thrown for 1,587 yards and 12 touchdowns, throwing 6 interceptions on the year. Fields has also rushed for a team-leading 400 yards and a touchdown.

The Bears are 4-8 on the season and looking to get a win over an NFC North rival in the Lions on Sunday.

Detroit is looking to continue its successful campaign and pick up its 10th win of the season as it travels to Chicago. The Lions beat the New Orleans Saints last Sunday.

The game between the Bears and the Lions kicks off at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.

It's been an ugly couple of weeks fro the Detroit Lions.

After barely squeaking by with a win against the lowly Chicago Bears on Sunday, the Lions once again struggled Thursday in their Thanksgiving loss to the Green Bay Packers.

But despite the poor performances, coach Dan Campbell isn't too worried and trusts in his team to work through the kinks that it's been experiencing these last couple of games. After all, the Lions have been one the best teams in the NFC this season.

"It wasn't good enough out there, but I'm not panicked."

Campbell has every right to be confident in his squad, the Lions have proven time and time again that they deserve to be taken seriously as contenders. However, they do have a tendency of some uncharacteristic games every few games—evident in earlier losses to Baltimore and Seattle.

If there is one thing that should be a bit concerning it's the play of quarterback Jared Goff.

Goff has been one of the better quarterbacks in the league this season, consistently orchestrating Detroit's offense to near-perfections most weeks. There have been some concerning signs as of late, though.

After turning the ball over just five times over the first nine games of the year, Goff has six turnovers in the past two games. He had three interceptions against the Bears and three fumbles against the Packers on Sunday—including one that lead to a scoop and score in the first quarter.

And with the level of defense left at the top of the NFC—like the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers—Goff's play will need to be nearly flawless if the Lions are going to make a deep playoff run.

Detroit Lions head coach and Texas A&M alum Dan Campbell shut down any rumors or speculation connecting him to his alma mater's head coaching gig on Friday in the wake of Jimbo Fisher's firing.

Campbell played for the Aggies from 1995-1998 before enjoying an 11-season NFL career. In 2023, the third-year Lions head coach has registered a 7-2 record, good enough for second place in the NFC through 10 weeks.

Texas A&M parted ways with Fisher after a three-year stretch in which the program went 19-15 overall (10-13 SEC). Aggies athletic director Ross Bjork said he made the decision to fire Fisher, noting the program was "stuck in neutral."

"The assessment that I delivered was that we are not reaching our full potential," Bjork told reporters.

"We are not in the championship conversation and something was not quite right about our direction and the plan.

"We should be relevant on the national scene."

Campbell has done a tremendous job turning around a Lions team that lost 33 games in the three years before his arrival. Detroit went 3-13-1 in Campbell's first season and started 1-6 in 2022, but the Lions have gone 15-4 since then.

The Aggies should be interested in Campbell, but he's coaching a successful NFL team that looks like a perennial playoff contender, one that could challenge for a Super Bowl.

Campbell and the Lions will look to move to 8-2 when they host the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell is expected to spurn any formal interest from Texas A&M as his alma mater is looking to replace Jimbo Fisher, according to CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd.

Dodd reported the Aggies made "backchannel communications" with Campbell's representatives, at which point "it was made clear that Campbell would be staying in the NFL with the Lions."

Campbell was mentioned as a potential candidate for A&M given his ties to the school, with The Athletic's Bruce Feldman writing how he "epitomizes everything we suspect the school would want in a head coach." However, Feldman also cited a source who said the timing was "horrible" in terms of him possibly walking away from the Lions.

Detroit's success this year made Campbell a long shot at best. The team leads the NFC North at 7-2, and its coach would presumably want to see through the franchise's first trip to the playoffs since 2016.

Waiting Campbell out would mean Texas A&M couldn't fully bring him aboard until mid-January at the earliest since the NFL's Wild Card Round runs from Jan. 13-15. As a result, the Aggies would technically be without a coach during December's early signing period.

There may come a time when Campbell returns to College Station, where he was a player for four seasons. That time clearly isn't now.

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell has made a habit out of taking risks throughout games, and he doesn't plan on changing his ways.

When asked about his penchant for fourth-down gambles, Campbell told reporters, "Here's what I would say, because I tell my family this, just wear a diaper before some of these games. I'll give them an alert and say, 'Put them on and be ready to roll.'"

Campbell's most recent gamble paid off in a big way. In Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers, the game was tied at 38 with 1:47 left when he went for it on fourth-and-2 from the Los Angeles 26-yard line instead of kicking a field goal, which would've given the Chargers the chance to possess the ball and win or send the game to overtime.

Lions quarterback Jared Goff completed a six-yard pass to rookie tight end Sam LaPorta, allowing Detroit to kneel three times before kicking the game-winning field goal as time expired to earn a 41-38 victory.

Overall, the Lions were 4-of-5 on fourth-down conversions in the game. The Chargers were just as aggressive, converting all three of their fourth-down attempts. Detroit players appreciated their coach's willingness to take risks.

"I'm sure in his head he didn't want to give Justin [Herbert] the ball back with a minute and a half," Goff said after the game. "It's a lot of fun when he puts the ball in our hands to make a play."

The win improved Detroit to 7-2 this season and helped the team maintain its lead in the NFC North. The Lions will look to keep the momentum going on Sunday in a divisional matchup against the Chicago Bears.

While the Detroit Lions suffered just their second loss of the season on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, it was enough to raise questions about their hot start to the 2023 season.

An NFL general manager told The Athletic's Mike Sando that the Lions winning five of their first six games was thanks in large part to an easy schedule.

"Detroit was 5-1, but they hadn't played anybody," the GM said. "Go look at the games they won. They played the Super Bowl champs (Kansas City) in Week 1 and caught them without (Travis) Kelce or Chris Jones. Mahomes was not comfortable with any of those receivers. Other than that, who have they beaten?"

Excluding the 6-1 Chiefs, the other four wins on the Lions' record came against teams with a combined 9-16 record. Detroit was riding a four-game win streak into Sunday's game against Baltimore, which ended in a demoralizing 38-6 loss.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell said after the game that he believes the loss will be beneficial to his team in the long run.

"You don't want these to happen, but when it does, it recenters you, it refocuses you. And that's all I know. I don't want it to happen. Nobody wants it to happen," he said. "Nobody likes to look over there and watch them having a great time because they kicked our ass. Nobody thinks that's fun, but I know that motivates me for next week, it motivates our team. You'll do any and everything you can not to have that feeling again. That's all I mean by that."

The Lions will be back in action on Monday Night Football in Week 8 against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell told reporters that his team "probably needed" the 38-6 loss that they took to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, per ESPN's Eric Woodyard.

"You don't want these to happen but when it does, it recenters you, it refocuses you. And that's all I know," Campbell said. "I don't want it to happen. Nobody wants it to happen."

Coming off a four-game win streak during which the Lions averaged 29.0 points per contest, their offensive output against Baltimore was the team's lowest-scoring performance all season.

"Nobody likes to look over there and watch them having a great time because they kicked our ass," Campbell explained, according to Woodyard. "Nobody thinks that's fun, but I know that motivates me for next week, it motivates our team. You'll do any and everything you can not to have that feeling again. That's all I mean by that."

Detroit is no stranger to overcoming rough midseason losses, especially during the former tight end's tenure as head coach. In 2022, the Lions scored six total points during a two-game losing streak that occurred from Week 5 to Week 7.

Over the team's next 11 contests, Detroit finished with a record of 8-3 while averaging 27.9 points per game.

Campbell's message was echoed by many players in the Lions' locker room, including rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs.

"I think it raises the intensity in the locker room, knowing that we're not invincible," Gibbs said (per Woodyard). "We're not invincible so everybody's going to be more tuned in on their details and what they've got to do to be more disciplined."

The 12th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft was one of the few bright spots on Sunday, picking up 68 yards on 11 carries while also recording a career-high 58 receiving yards.

With a record of 5-2 after the loss, Detroit is still comfortably sitting in first place in the NFC North. The Lions' next opportunity to bounce back will come against the Las Vegas Raiders, a team that's currently allowing 21.8 points per game.

The Detroit Lions don't plan to ease Jahmyr Gibbs back into things when he returns from his hamstring injury on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens.

Head coach Dan Campbell confirmed on Friday the rookie running back will play in Week 7, adding he's "going to need to take the load" of the work out of the backfield.

Gibbs was a late addition to Detroit's injury report prior to the team's Week 5 game against the Carolina Panthers. He suffered a hamstring injury during the final practice of the week.

The injury has kept Gibbs out of the past two games against the Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He returned to practice on a limited basis this week.

One reason the Lions will be counting on Gibbs is because David Montgomery, who has started all five games he's played, seems unlikely to go on Sunday. He hasn't practiced this week due to injured rib cartilage.

Campbell told reporters on Monday that Montgomery will be out "for a little bit." Backup running back Craig Reynolds is also on the injury report this week with hamstring and toe injuries. He was limited in Thursday's practice after sitting out Wednesday's session.

There are no other running backs on Detroit's active roster. Mohamed Ibrahim and Devine Ozigbo are on the practice squad and would have to be signed to the 53-man roster to play against the Ravens.

There would seem to be a significant risk for the Lions in asking Gibbs to take on a heavy workload coming off a hamstring injury. He's only been on the field for more than 50 percent of the offensive snaps in one of the four games he played prior to the injury.

Selected with the No. 12 pick in the 2023 NFL draft, Gibbs is off to a slow start this season. He has 249 yards from scrimmage with no touchdowns on 53 touches so far.

The Lions have been fine without significant contributions from their top draft pick. They are one of five teams tied for the best record in the NFL (5-1) going into Week 7. They rank in the top 10 in both points scored (28.0) and points allowed (18.8) per game this season.