The Detroit Lions secured a massively important victory in Week 14, beating the Green Bay Packers for the second time this season, 34-31, on Thursday night.
The victory accomplishes multiple things for Detroit. For starters, the Lions have punched their ticket to the postseason with the win, marking the first time they have achieved back-to-back playoff appearances since the team had three consecutive postseason trips from 1993-95.
Also, Detroit secures the head-to-head tiebreaker in the division over the Packers, which all but ends Green Bay’s hopes of winning the NFC North. Now, the Lions really only have the Minnesota Vikings to worry about in the division race.
The win was Detroit’s 11th in a row, and it secured the Lions’ second straight 12-win season. Both of those marks are franchise records.
After the game, Campbell was extra fired up in his postgame speech to the team. Check it out.
This is where we thrive pic.twitter.com/XLhbPlf9Xi
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) December 6, 2024
Campbell was his typical aggressive self in the win over the Packers, with the Lions head coach deciding to go for it on fourth down on five separate occasions, including late in the fourth quarter in what was an incredibly risky call.
With 43 seconds left and the Lions at Green Bay’s 21-yard line, and with the Packers not having any timeouts left, everyone on the planet assumed Campbell would kick the field goal on fourth down instead of going for it.
But we should’ve known better — Campbell went for it in order to avoid giving the Packers the ball back. It nearly backfired, as Jared Goff slipped on the handoff to David Montgomery, which nearly wrecked the play.
But the Lions quarterback still managed to get the ball into his running back’s hands, and Montgomery took care of the rest before Jake Bates nailed the game-winner.
Perhaps the sigh of relief was why Campbell had a little extra juice in his voice in the postgame speech. All jokes aside, with the Lions clinching a playoff berth, they are now one step closer to their goal of winning a Super Bowl.
MORE: NFL world in agreement: Dan Campbell is a mad man
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