Tag: NFC Championship

Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes: Season was no fluke, it’s only going to get better

ALLEN PARK — Brad Holmes is tired of the Detroit Lions successful season being described as a “cute story.’’

That is because, in the mind of the Detroit Lions vice president and general manager, it was none of that. It was not a Cinderella, magical season. It was much more.

Yes, the Lions won their first playoff game in 30 years — and they won a pair of them — but it was not an accident. There was no magic dust involved and fans can expect more in the future.

“I want to tell our fans, look, it’s only going to get better. We’re only going to get better. … This is exactly what was supposed to happen,’’ Holmes said in his post-season press conference on Monday,

He understands the long-suffering fans’ line of thought, but would like them to shake that off and look at what has happened in the last three years since he and coach Dan Campbell arrived.

“Every move that me and Dan make has been made to sustain what we are building. Every single move we make and every single move we do not make, is to sustain what we have been building,” Holmes said. “It’s real. Look, it’s all to normalize what we’re doing.’’

The Lions finished 12-5 in the regular season, winning the NFC North along the way. They beat the Los Angeles Rams in the wildcard game and the Tampa Bay Bucs in the divisional round. They were one half away from earning a trip to the Super Bowl against the 49ers when they collapsed in the second half of the NFC Championship game and lost.

The Lions have improved from 3-13-1 in the first year of the Campbell-Holmes regime, to 9-8 and just missing the playoffs, to making a splash in 2023. 

“We love where we’re at, this is supposed to be expected, it’s the standard. We love the window that we’re in, we just got finished with Year 3,’’ Holmes said. “We’re still building, we’ll stick to our plan, we’ll continue to put all our effort into improve each year which we’ve done, in my opinion.’’

Holmes, who came out quite fiery, also had a warning for fans as free agency (March 13) and the NFL Draft (April 25-27) approach. 

He hasn’t always gotten good immediate feedback from the media on his draft picks. He can live with the criticism, but he wants fans to be patient and wait until December to judge, not in the spring.

“I want them to know that over the next few months, don’t get spooked this spring by speculation or negative talk or the entertainment news feed — don’t get spooked by that to not think we can’t build and sustain what we’ve been building,’’ Holmes said.

 “… The next few months there’s a lot of speculation and a lot of opinions, people don’t know what’s going to happen. I just hope that they know every year that we’ve been upfront and straight with everybody,’’ Holmes said.  “Every move we make is intentional and, again, every move we do not make is intentional.’’

This was a point he hammered over and over during his nearly 40 minutes behind the podium.

“I want to make sure the fans know what we always said, we draft, develop, sign our own and build through the draft,’’ Holmes said. 

Also he made clear that not everyone can play for the Detroit Lions who base their roster decisions not just on talent but on personal characteristics. “That’s just reality, the standard that has been set,’’ Holmes said.

“Look, I think we all know adversity will always come, but that’s why we’re built on grit,” he said. “We’ll be ready for adversity. It will come regardless. That’s why we’re always preaching grit, grit, grit.”

Report: Ben Johnson, Lions offensive coordinator, to remain in Detroit

Ben Johnson, the innovative Detroit Lions offensive coordinator, will return to the team for the 2024 season, per an NFL Network report.

Johnson was thought to be a candidate for the head coaching openings for the Washington Commanders and Seattle Seahawks. He informed the teams that he’s staying with the Lions and wants another shot at bringing the Lombardi Trophy to Detroit, per the report on Tuesday.

The Lions lost 34-31 to the 49ers in Sunday’s NFC Championship game. 

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Johnson’s asking price “spooked some teams.” Johnson is 37 and will likely have more opportunities in the future.

Coach Dan Campbell was asked on Monday about his plans to replace Johnson if he should move on. 

“If it comes to that, that’s, obviously, very important. I mean, he was a critical piece for us. He’s a critical piece. And I’m not worrying about that just yet. I need to at least get two hours of sleep and then I’ll begin,’’ Campbell said.

Johnson has been with the Lions since he was hired as the offensive quality control coach in 2019. He was promoted to tight ends coach in 2020 and Campbell kept him on staff when he was hired in 2021. Johnson was promoted to pass game coordinator midway through the 2021 season and promoted to offensive coordinator prior to the 2022 season.

This season the LIons finished 12-5, won the NFC North and won two playoff games.

At the end of the regular season the Lions’ offense was ranked third in the NFL, averaging 394.8 yards per game with 58 touchdowns.

Many of the key offensive players including Jared Goff will return next season to a system, run by Johnson, that they are familiar with after playing in it for two seasons.

Lions, Dan Campbell reflect on loss and what they can see for next season

ALLEN PARK —  And then it was Monday. 

The Detroit Lions cleaned out their lockers, said their goodbyes and, along with coach Dan Campbell, reflected on the 34-31 loss to the 49ers in Sunday’s NFC Championship game.

“Our guys eyes are open. This should be the ultimate motivation to push forward and it will be for us, it will be,’’ Campbell said. “We’ll learn and move on.’’

Of course they are not happy with the defeat, after watching a 17-point lead evaporate in the second half.

“This is what you hear about all the time in catastrophes — it doesn’t take one or two, it takes 12 things to go wrong and we did all 12 of those wrong in all three phases,’’ Campbell said on Monday. “And ultimately, where we’ve been so good when one area is struggling a little bit and the other two pick them up. That was the game in the second half where in all three phases we were not good and we continued to make mistake after mistake after mistake in all three phases.’’

Campbell wasn’t as emotional as immediately after the game — and maybe it was because he was exhausted — but he did seem drained on Monday. The players were still digesting the horrific loss but were also happy to look ahead.

The future could be bright. One betting service has the Lions’ odds to win the Super Bowl in 2025 at 7/1 – the only two better teams are Kansas City 12/1 and San Francisco 49ers at 6/1. So there’s that.

All season long, Campbell said the team was built for whatever challenge they faced. “We’re built for this,’’ the coach repeated over and over. He was right until the second half on Sunday when they surrendered a 17-point lead.

‘I think the whole point was to create a core that had certain standards. Obviously they’ve got to be good players and we have that. But they’ve got to be a certain way, there’s got to be a certain mindset, a certain identity and we have that in our core,’’ Campbell said.

Between free agency and the draft, the roster will be tweaked for next season. 

“And we’ve got to add pieces that are like-minded — we have to add more talent, more competition that thinks the same way that group of guys in the locker does,’’ Campbell said. “And it’s non-negotiable if it’s not. There’s no level of talent that’s worth bringing something that doesn’t fit what we’re about. That’s very important.’’

The players are all good with that – they saw the results in going 12-5, winning the NFC North title and a pair of playoff wins.

“They want guys that represent what this city is about. The cliche thing — blue collar, hard-working, resilient. That’s not lip service, that’s what we are,’’ left tackle Taylor Decker said. “There’s something to be said for those intangibles … Hopefully this is the tip of the iceberg for us and we’ll have some high standards going forward in the next few years.’’

Campbell, a master communicator, should guide them in the right direction just like he has for three seasons. He knows he has a foundation set.

“There’s things we won’t have to start all the way from scratch, but there’s got to be that hunger, there’s got to be that work, there’s got to be that attention to detail, there’s got to be that urgency,’’ Campbell said. “And in that regard, you’re starting all over again and if you don’t and you think you’re just going to walk out there because you went to the NFC Championship game you’ve got another thing coming. That’s how you become average in a hurry. They’ll know that, they understand that, as we get to next year that will be the message.’’