The Detroit Lions have been the darlings of the NFL world after an appearance on HBO’s Hard Knocks this offseason, but the team will hope that they can produce as much entertainment on the field as they have on television this offseason.
They will start their season against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, and Lions head coach Dan Campbell certainly hopes that the team’s game against Philadelphia goes better than last season’s matchup between the two teams.
Detroit was non-competitive when they played the Eagles in Week 8 of last season, losing that game in a 44-6 rout where the Eagles rushed for more yards than the Lions had total yards.
Campbell discussed last season’s game between the two teams in an interview on Monday, saying that the loss was “embarrassing” and that the Lions plan to turn that loss into motivation for the upcoming season.
“I mean, it was embarrassing. It was an embarrassing loss,” Campbell said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “They let us have it, they rubbed our nose in it and they came in and did everything that they wanted to do, they did to us, times 10. So I think we’ve acknowledged that and we understand that that’s what they’re coming back for.
“It opened our eyes to some things and I think it forced us to really make some changes both sides of the ball,” Campbell added. “We had to do things differently ’cause where we were going wasn’t going to cut it. Yeah, it’s somewhat a blessing in disguise, I guess. You make the most of something that’s a negative, you turn it into a positive, and I felt like we did that to a certain extent.”
The Lions finished with a 3-13-1 season last year, and a big indication of how much growth the team has had this offseason will be their debut game this season against Philadelphia on Sunday.
[Pro Football Talk, Detroit Free Press]
