We spoke with Pride of Detroit to preview the Thanksgiving day match-up
The Chicago Bears head to Detroit to face the Lions to kick off the NFL’s Thanksgiving Day festivities on Thursday. The Bears beat the Lions three straight times on Thanksgiving, in 2018, 2019, and 2021. However, this time the Lions sit as a double-digit favorite. Will things change? We sat down with Ryan Mathews from Pride of Detroit to understand why the Detroit Lions have been so darn good this year.
1. As a fellow fan of an NFC North team that was routinely sharing the basement with Detroit, what has it been like seeing this change from Detroit being a doormat to the best team in the NFC? How did the Lions manage to take years of franchise dysfunction and shove it aside and look like a team that could very well be set up for sustained success?
Ownership. A new vision for what it meant to build a football team. The firing of Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn, and the subsequent hiring process that led the Lions to choosing both Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes is what turned this franchise into what it is today. Oftentimes you see organizations course correct their head coaching position by prioritizing a side of the ball. If it was a defensive head coach that sunk your ship, get the young, bright, offensive-minded virtuoso to fix your team’s problems, or vice versa.
The culture–or lack thereof–that Patricia cultivated in Detroit was one built on confrontation disguised as accountability. Go figure that ruling with an iron fist and failing to relate to players, or even showing them respect when in team meetings, wasn’t one that resulted in successful football. So when Sheila Ford Hamp succeeded her mother, Martha Firestone Ford, as Principal Owner and Chair of the Detroit Lions, she didn’t enlist a firm to help find their next head coach. She leaned on the football people in the building like former Lions linebacker Chris Spielman to help prioritize the right characteristics and traits to look for in their next leader.
It all starts at the top, and the Lions have definitely put the right people in place to build a successful football team.
2. When Dan Campbell was first hired and was talking about biting knees, I thought he was just going to be another Lions coach who would be gone in three years. He’s proven me wrong and built something special. What has Campbell done to create such a fantastic culture and how do you think he’s come along as an in-game coach on Sundays?
Campbell was really whittled down into a caricature of himself from that introductory press conference by nearly every media outlet. What people overlooked was the authenticity, and that’s who Campbell is as a leader. He is intense and as passionate as they come. Sure, there’s some unconventionality to the words he uses to get his point across, but that’s who he is, and no one was going to see past that talk of biting kneecaps for Campbell being authentic.
He practices what he preaches. He does up-downs with the team during training camp. He toes the line–and has even crossed over it–when it comes to padded practices, but he does it because he’s been there and knows what it takes to get the body ready for the grueling NFL season. The players trust him that he has their best interests in mind, but he had to earn that. Accountability and “playing for the guy lined up next to you” is something he’s always coming back to in media availability, and it’s gone a long way toward this team trusting in one another.
As far as in-game coaching, again, what you’ve seen is what you continue to see out of him. He’s going to be aggressive on fourth down because that’s a vote of confidence in his guys–on both sides of the ball.
3. I have to ask you about Ben Johnson because he’s the coach Bears fans are obsessed with at the moment. I think what he’s done with Jared Goff and that offense is nothing short of ridiculous. I haven’t seen a well-oiled machine like this offensively since the 2007 Patriots. What is it specifically about his scheme and play-calling that makes this offense so dangerous?
Ben Johnson has been essential to the Lions’ success, putting innovative schemes into place and getting the most out of his talent by playing to their strengths. For example, with Jared Goff, it’s the way they’ve tapped into his ability to sell play-action from under center and layer crossing routes to get the ball into his playmakers’ hands. Through 12 weeks, Goff ranks second in yards per attempt (11.1) and completion percentage (75.4%), and fourth in passer rating (125.7) when operating out of play-action. Johnson’s play designs emphasize flexibility–you’d be hard-pressed to find another offense that successfully implements as many different run schemes as they do on gameday–and the formations create deception since the Lions can throw or pass out of the same sets. He’s great at sequencing plays that put defenses into tough spots when it comes to personnel groupings, and when you have an offensive line and running back duo like those in Detroit, it’s extremely difficult to stop such complementary football.
Given his success and creativity, it’s no wonder Johnson is a top head-coaching candidate, but he’s going to have to love the fit for him to leave a good thing with the Lions. He’s turned down offers and meetings in the past to stay in Detroit, so maybe Bears fans should be rooting for the Lions to take care of that unfinished business this year.
4. Let’s talk about Jared Goff who, despite his 5 interception game, is having the best season of his career. I find it fascinating that he’s finding so much success after Sean McVay discarded him for Matthew Stafford after he determined he couldn’t win with him. Is Ben Johnson just that good or has Jared Goff finally started developing into the QB that made him the first overall pick all those years ago?
It’s a little of column A and a little of column B. Johnson and Goff spent three days–a Friday through Sunday–during the 2022 offseason putting together this offense that so clearly accentuates Goff’s strengths and that comes back to how this coaching staff has created a culture of trust and belief. Johnson views Goff as a partner and values his input when it comes to the offense, and from Goff’s time in Los Angeles with McVay, it sounds like that trust had completely eroded and strained the relationship.
But there also has to be a lot of credit given to Holmes for stocking so much talent around the quarterback. With the emergence of Jameson Williams, there are playmakers at every level of this offense, and there are so many opportunities for explosive plays from guys like Sam LaPorta and Jahmyr Gibbs that it’s easy to see why the offense has taken that step from being really good to great.
5. I suppose we should talk about the Thanksgiving game. The Lions are a huge 10.5-point favorite, and they should be based on how they are playing and the Bears’ current five-game losing streak. I think most people are expecting the Lions to cruise in this one, but if I told you the Bears somehow pulled off the upset, what would your guess be as to what they did to throw the Lions off and secure a victory?
First things first, this spread shouldn’t look like that at all. The Lions suffered some injuries to key players in their game against the Colts last week and it looks like left tackle Taylor Decker, cornerback Carlton Davis, and receiver/punt returner Kalif Raymond are all likely to miss this game on a short week. This line should be more like Lions -6.5 or -7 at most. An upset isn’t out of the realm of possibility given those injuries, but being winless on Thanksgiving during the Dan Campbell era has crept back into the conversation leading up to this game, so I think the Lions finally put that one to bed once and for all in this one.