Matthew Stafford – Page 3

Lions excitement begins this week with focus on topping the Rams

Super Bowl talk takes backseat; winning division is the key

ALLEN PARK — Dan Campbell was so excited to get rolling with Week 1 of the new season, the Detroit Lions coach was seven minutes early for his Monday press conference. He was wearing a big smile and a Lions’ “Anti-fragile” t-shirt.

“I told the team this morning, now let’s put our guys in position to go win and do what they do best. Let them go win the race for you,’’ Campbell said.

First up, it’s Sunday Night Football at Ford Field against Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams. Hard to top that for an opener to a season where the Lions are expected to at least be in the Super Bowl discussion.

They have not made a secret of that. Players, coaches and GM Brad Holmes have not been shy about their goal of winning the Super Bowl.

Now it’s time to walk the walk.

So Campbell told the team let’s not talk about the Super Bowl any more.

“Now we’re to the point now that doesn’t matter any more. What does that do? It does nothing,’’ Campbell said. “Now it’s about the steps to get to there. The steps are you better win your division so you get a home game. Then once you get a home game, now it’s about seeding. You win these head-to-heads then all of a sudden you’re the three seed, you’re the two seed, maybe you’re the one seed.’’

The Lions proved they are legitimate when they came within one half of making it to the Super Bowl in February with a 34-31 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

From Campbell’s view the anticipation isn’t different.

“It’s hard to say. I always get excited for this time of year. There again, our core is the core and it’s been that way for a long period of time, you hope you build on top of that foundation that we’ve built here, you’ve helped, you’ve improved and everybody grows together. So with that, it’s a new team,’’ Campbell said. “But I think it’s the same type of anticipation.’’

Left tackle Taylor Decker said he never felt the Super Bowl was a big conversation topic in the building but it could come up here and there.

“But again we just need to take it week by week, or we’d be doing a disservice to each other,’’ Decker said on Monday. “If you look too far ahead then you might be 3-4 weeks into the season and then (wonder) what’s going on here. We’re not going to let that happen. We have the right mindset of guys.’’

That’s how linebacker Alex Anzalone sees it too.

“As a competitor it’s exciting, I think this is how it should be. This is the expectation you want as a competitor,’’ Anzalone said. “You don’t want to put one thing in front of the other. There’s a lot of outside noise and excitement outside of here. Dan (Campbell) said today the first goal is to win the division.’’

First up are the Rams who the Lions beat in the playoffs at Ford Field in January. The Super Bowl is so far down the road.

“So now it’s about setting yourself up for that. How do you do that? It starts with Game 1, an NFC opponent, a really good opponent, who I think is going to be staring at all of us in the playoffs at the end of this year too,’’ Campbell said. “That’s it, you find a way to win your division again.’’

INJURY UPDATE: Safety Ifeatu Melifonwu is the only Lion dealing with injury this week. Campbell said it’s a slow-moving injury and they want to get him moving around.

Detroit Lions 2024 NFL schedule revealed including 5 prime time games

Opener set vs. Rams and Matthew Stafford on Sunday Night Football

After the Detroit Lions’ most successful season in decades last year, it’s no surprise they will be featured in five prime time games during the 2024 NFL season, plus the traditional nationally televised game on Thanksgiving.

The Lions open against the Los Angeles Rams at Ford Field on Sunday Night Football for a rematch against Matthew Stafford and his bunch from the Lions’ 24-23 wildcard win in

The regular season will wrap up against the NFC North rival, the Minnesota Vikings, in Week 18. The game will be flexed so date and time will be determined later. The NFL released the full schedule on Wednesday night.

Sept. 8 — vs. Los Angeles Rams, 8:20 p.m., NBC (Sunday Night Football)

Sept. 15 — vs. Tampa Bay Bucs, 1 p.m., FOX

Sept. 22 — at Arizona Cardinals, 4:25 p.m., FOX

Sept. 30 — vs. Seattle Seahawks, 8:15 p.m., ESPN (Monday Night Football)

WEEK 5 — Bye

Oct. 13 — at Dallas Cowboys, 4:25 p.m., FOX

Oct. 20 — at Minnesota Vikings, 1 p.m., FOX

Oct. 27 — vs. Tennessee Titans, 1 p.m., FOX

Nov. 3 — at Green Bay, 4:25 p.m., FOX

Nov. 10 — at Houston Texans, 8:20 p.m., NBC (Sunday Night Football)

Nov. 17 — vs. Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 p.m., CBS

Nov. 24 — at Indianapolis Colts, 1 p.m., FOX

Nov. 28 — vs. Chicago Bears, 12:30 p.m., CBS (Thanksgiving)

Dec. 5 — vs Green Bay Packers, 8:15 p.m., PRIME (Thursday Night Football)

Dec, 15 — vs. Buffalo Bills, 4:25 p.m., CBS

Dec. 22 — at Chicago Bears, 1 p.m., FOX

Dec. 30 — at San Francisco 49ers, ESPN/ABC (Monday Night Football)

TBD — vs. Minnesota Vikings, TBD

Lions earn first playoff win in 32 years, edging the Rams 24-23

DETROIT — If an NFL playoff game ever lived up to its billing, it was the Detroit Lions’ 24-23 win over the Los Angeles Rams in the wildcard matchup Sunday night at Ford Field.

It was Detroit’s first playoff win since Jan. 5, 1992, and because the Packers beat the Cowboys in the early game, the Lions will be back at Ford Field at 3 p.m. next Sunday. They’ll play Monday’s winner between the Bucs and Eagles.

While quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff were Sunday’s most obvious storyline, Goff and the Lions knew they couldn’t get caught up in that and they did not.

The Ford Field fans, who had adored Stafford for a dozen years when he was in Detroit, were all in Goff’s camp. They chanted his name loud and often. He’d never experienced anything like it, but it was certainly well deserved.

“It was kind of tracking for this matchup for a while so I had time to get ready for the fanfare that would be. I just kept going back to what this game was about and it was about us,’’ Goff said.
“It wasn’t about them. It wasn’t about me, it wasn’t about my history there, it wasn’t about anyone on their team or any coaches. It was about us. It was about the 53 in this locker room, our coaches and this organization getting a playoff win.’’

It wasn’t perfect but in the NFL a win by one point is worth as much as a 20-point victory.

Five of the reasons the Lions won:

1. The Lions’ defense held the Rams to 0-for-3 in the Red Zone. It was the key to the close game. “We wanted to be disruptive, we wanted to be aggressive,’’ coach Dan Campbell said. “It wasn’t perfect but at the end of the day we knew we had to limit points, keep them out of the end zone. We did that. We talked about it at halftime, we needed to stop.’’ And they did. Stafford was his usual amazing self (25 of 36, 367 yards) but was held to just two touchdowns. The Rams’ last three scores were all field goals.

2. Goff had complete control of the game and played nearly flawlessly. He completed 22 of 27 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown. “I thought he played top-notch football. He probably had two errors and everything else was on point,’’ Campbell said. “He looked loose, he looked relaxed. I thought he threw the ball with conviction, strong in the pocket. Got us in the right play, he felt that way all week, he felt locked in all week. He’s been that week for six weeks, we feel he’s really honed in.’’ The coach also said he’s one of the reasons they won the game. “What a stud,’’ he added.

3. Aidan Hutchinson woke up with a cold on Saturday but you’d never know he was a bit under the weather during the game. He finished with a pair of sacks and five quarterback hits. If you’re counting, that’s seven sacks in the last three games. He said he heats up at the end of the season. Good timing. He said they’d worked to improve on red zone defense which came down to a mentality shift. “Now we’ve just got to stop the self-inflicted wounds because they kill you in these big games,’’ Hutchinson said

4. With two minutes left, on a second-and-9 play, Goff passed to Amon-Ra St. Brown for the first down. It was a play they’ve run regularly throughout the past few years. No surprise it worked. At first Goff said he was excited to get the first down. It took a second for him to realize that one play ensured the win. “That was the moment where we needed to seal this game and we felt like the right thing to do was get it in (Goff’s) hands and get it to our best player,’’ Campbell said.

5. The fans did their job from before kickoff through the very end – and then they stuck around a bit afterward. They were outfitted with bracelets that flashed with the music, and they were ready to be loud. And they were. “That is arguably the best environment I’ve ever been in. That was absolutely electric,’’ Campbell said. “What’s crazy, I was coming down for pregame warmup, and you could just feel it, it was humming, the building was humming and I swear you could feel the electricity down the tunnel where I was coming down and it only grew from there. Our fans showed up in a big way. For two years that building has been rocking, it was different today, it was a whole nother level.’’

NEXT UP: At 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 21, the Lions will host the winner of Monday’s Eagle-Bucs matchup. They earned another home game when the Packers destroyed the Cowboys, 48-32, at Dallas.