It's safe to say the Lions have turned a page.
Following a run to the NFC Championship Game in 2023, Detroit followed up its breakout campaign with a commanding 15-2 season in 2024, winning consecutive division titles for the first time ever in the Super Bowl era and earning the conference's No. 1 seed -- another first for the franchise.
This time around, expectations follow the mighty Lions going into Saturday's Divisional Round matchup against the Washington Commanders. As the ringleader of Detroit's long-awaited rise, Dan Campbell is preparing to live up to those high hopes.
"We've had attention for four years here," Campbell told reporters on Monday. "I mean, there's been more stuff that's been made out, that's been built one way, we've been so good, we've been so bad, we're a laughingstock, now we're great, and it's just been this rollercoaster of up and downs, and it's the next week of it, you know what I mean? And so this is nothing new that we're in right now. This is nothing new for me, for the coaches, for the players.
"We're in the middle of the circus, man, and it's about time to perform. That's the world we're in."
Detroit has scratched, clawed and bit its way into the limelight. Campbell's undertaking began with a porous three-win season in 2021, but he's notched three consecutive winning seasons since, the latest one bringing Super Bowl expectations to a franchise that had previously dreamed of merely earning a playoff bid for decades.
That posed a new question for Campbell on Monday: Is it Super Bowl or bust for the 2024 Lions?
"Listen, everything's about this game right now, and look I've said it before, I've been to the Super Bowl, I've lost, and it stinks. So it's about this week," Campbell said. "We've got to find a way to win this game, this week."
The Lions got a much-needed week of rest by virtue of the No. 1 seed they earned. Running back David Montgomery, who suffered an MCL injury in Week 15, was the latest adverse situation the Lions were faced with in a season chock full of injuries. As Campbell previously indicated last week, the head coach confirmed Montgomery will be making his return on Saturday.
"He's a tone-setter," Campbell said. "There'll be a place for him in this game so it'll be good to get him back."
The Lions have been battle-tested in 2024, earning six wins over playoff-bound teams. Their two defeats on the season have also come against teams who made the postseason, with the Bucs edging them in Week 2 and the Bills outscoring Detroit in a Week 15 thriller. Both of those one-score losses happened at Ford Field.
The Commanders will be a new opponent for this season's Lions. Led by rookie QB Jayden Daniels, Washington advanced after topping the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a last-second field goal. The Commanders come into Detroit hot, riding a six-game win streak that has featured game-winning plays in the final minute of each of the last five of those results.
Campbell ensured the Lions are prepared for playoff football to begin the week, showing them key moments throughout the Wild Card Round and how one play can change everything in January.
Whatever it takes to avoid getting caught up in the spectacle.
"I think they understand what's at stake," Campbell said on Monday. "I know they watched these games this week and they watched that game last night, and inevitably, I mean I showed the team really every game, just different situations that popped up, a snapshot of what happened. And you just look at what could have cost the team, whether it's the drop here, whether it's a penalty, whether it's a situation, whatever it is, and they're littered all through the week. And that's what the playoffs are, that one extra play, just doing your job in the heat of the moment and if you do that you give yourself the best odds. If not, the other team's going. And so we've got a really good opponent here, they've got a dynamic quarterback, they're playing good offense, good defense, really good coaching, and we've got our work cut out for us."
