GBU: Minnesota game 2 NFC North championship

[El Axe]

Good: Everything

Bad-Ass: Amik Robertson in the postgame: "They tried to bury me, dog. But they can't bury something that comes from the F*ing dirt"

Ugly, but hopefully not: Arnold & Zeitler injuries

[-Deborah-]

Amik looked pretty emotional when he said that, too. Love his heart.

[Coop]

WHAT A WIN!

Team played its ass off - this was definitely a statement game, yet another record shattered. GRIT! - GREAT to see Analone back!

Now we get a much needed bye to rest up and see whom else we can get back from the injury list.

[Lionsfan123]

Honestly I can’t say anything bad. The only nitpick is that they need to stop starting out slow in the beginning of games. Aside from that, the Leos did what they needed to get the win and that’s all that matters. Heal up and let’s see who we will play in the divisional round

[chemiclord]

It's weird that they seem to only come out of the gate sluggish when the offense gets the ball to start.

[Iron Lion]

There's no bad or ugly. That was a Super Bowl contender reminding the Vikings whose yard this is.

That defense was astounding, especially in the red zone. Part of it was clearly Glenn keeping his powder dry in San Fran, but part of it was also Anzalone coming back really helped. He was dialed in and pretty much neutralized that middle zone that teams had been exploiting the last month.

Offensively they started off slow (what is it about the Lions receiving the opening kick, and coming out flat?), but my God did Gibbs impose his will on the Vikings defense by the end. Like a lot of teams this year, the Vikings simply couldn't handle the bullying for 60 minutes. They arguably had tapped out with about four minutes left.

This was quite literally complementary football at its finest. The defense forced the Vikings to leave a ton of points on the field until the offense got the engine fully revved, and the second half was off to the races.

That was fucking beautiful, man, well put. And I want to apologize to Thor and AG, two of the handful of guys that we all wanted to run out of town.

[whatever_gong82]

These are the Lions that Dan Campbell promised

Even by NFL standards, Detroit has taken a pounding this season. It has resulted in a team hardened for anything.

January 6, 2025 at 9:46 a.m. EST Today at 9:46 a.m. EST

Paywall article.


Column by Jerry Brewer

Dan Campbell, the most powerful speaker in coaching, stood before the Detroit Lions late Sunday night and delivered the final message of a regular season that bad luck could not ruin. He paced the locker room. He screamed in joy. He bent the bill of his cap, rubbed his goatee and let his raw emotions take over one more time.


“You guys look like you remember who the [expletive] you are,” he told the players on a video the team released on social media. “That was awesome.”

The Lions roared. You knew Campbell would make it real. For the 15th time in 17 games, they were celebrating a victory. They needed every win to offset the wounds. It was painful to watch them receive such little relief from a 15-2 record because of rampant injuries and unrelenting competition. In the AFC, the Kansas City Chiefs cruised to 15-2, not even needing to show up for their last game because they had already clinched the No. 1 seed.



With 16 players on injured reserve, the Lions could have used a leisurely finale. Instead, they entered a Sunday night showdown with the Minnesota Vikings knowing that a loss would sentence them to the cruelest fate: no NFC North division title, a No. 5 seed and a playoff path full of road games despite the best record in franchise history.


A spoiled team would have considered it unfair. A cursed team, which has been the Lions’ reputation for most of their 91 seasons in Detroit, would have considered historic misfortune inevitable. But this is Campbell’s team. His guys have come too far to whine about difficulty. With an emphatic 31-9 win over Minnesota at Ford Field, the Lions protected their dream season, secured the NFC’s No. 1 seed and continued to show there’s more to them than talent and offensive creativity.


“This has been in the making for a while,” Campbell told reporters afterward. “This is a special group of guys.”

Here’s how he said it in the locker room: “All I can think about is that we’ve been forged in this stuff now.”

Forged was an apt description. It does seem like Campbell and General Manager Brad Holmes made these Lions by fire and hammered them into a new shape. The change has been incremental yet swift: 3-13-1 in 2021, 9-8 in 2022, 12-5 last season, 15-2 now.


They are the NFC’s top seed for the first time. They deserve this playoff bye. They need the rest. Oh, do they need the rest. They suffered a couple more worrisome injuries against Minnesota, losing rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold (foot) and guard Kevin Zeitler, a veteran addition this season to their esteemed offensive line, who hobbled off the field holding his right hamstring. This season, attrition has been their fiercest opponent.

When healthy, the Lions are the best and most complete team in the NFL, an imposing combination of physicality, ingenuity and audacity. They play old-school, brawny football and mix in the clever play-calling of offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. And to top it off, they’re bold. Campbell and Johnson haven’t encountered a fourth-down decision that makes them cower. With half of his defensive starters on the sideline, including star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson, Glenn has remained fearlessly aggressive.


On many days, the loss of defensive personnel has been impossible to overcome. But on Sunday, the Detroit defense led the way. It put on a clinic in short-yardage situations, refusing to surrender touchdowns to the Vikings on three tone-setting drives. The Vikings ran 11 plays inside the 5-yard line and came away with three points. Later, the Vikings had another trip inside the 20-yard line and managed just a field goal. They didn’t score a touchdown all night and finished with just 262 offensive yards.

Sam Darnold completed only 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards, an uncharacteristically inaccurate performance in his breakthrough season. Detroit cornerback Amik Robertson did a solid job limiting Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who finished with three receptions for 54 yards. It left the Vikings (14-3) as the unfortunate No. 5 seed and the first 14-win wild card in league history. They must go on the road to play the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night.


After Campbell gave a game ball to Robertson, he expressed his gratitude to the team. The former fourth-round pick played his first four seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders before signing with the Lions last March. He was brought in to provide depth, but he has become a critical role player.

“I mean this from the bottom of my heart, man,” Robertson said while spinning a game ball in his hand. “I appreciate y’all, man, because y’all gave me a chance to showcase what I can do when they tried to bury me, dog. But they can’t bury what comes from the dirt.”


Robertson is as much a Campbell player as Jahmyr Gibbs, who led Detroit with 139 rushing yards and four total touchdowns against Minnesota, setting a franchise single-season franchise record with 20 touchdowns. He’s a flash player on a flashy team. But this is also a squad that saw linebacker and team captain Alex Anzalone cover his surgically repaired left forearm with a sleeve and make his return Sunday after missing six games. Before he took the field, he posted an Instagram wince-worthy photo of his stitched-up arm and wrote: “Everyone wants to be a dog, until you have to do some dog s***.”

Then he went out and made seven tackles.


Anzalone admitted he didn’t know whether he could trust his forearm going into the game. If he had needed more time to recover, it wouldn’t have made him any less tough, but the sacrifice speaks to what Campbell has built. The former tight ends coach is not a mastermind redefining schemes. But he is a genius at getting people to believe and endure.


It’s the most coveted skill in coaching because winning requires more grit than strategy. His approach is different, but the results remind me of how former Seattle Coach Pete Carroll motivated his guys to play for each other.


Three weeks ago, after a 48-42 loss to the Buffalo Bills ended an 11-game Lions winning streak, Campbell went on Detroit radio station 97.1 The Ticket and talked about being humbled. He described his team’s state as going from “eating filet” to “molded bread.” But even with the injuries mounting and the perception of invincibility eroding, he spoke with so much passion that anyone listening probably wanted to put on shoulder pads.


“We’re gonna freakin’ cut it loose,” he said. “And I don’t give a crap if we have to win by one point for the rest of the year. That’s what we’re gonna do, and I’m gonna be happy about it. We come out of the game with 50 yards of total offense and we win by one, you’re gonna see smiles on my face, I promise you. If it’s the other way, and defensively, we give up 700 yards and we win by one point, you’re gonna see a f---ing smile from my ear to ear. I promise you.”

Campbell will never be a victim, I promise you.



As the playoffs arrive, I can’t promise that a team so banged up can complete its championship mission. This script has played out so many times in the NFL, and usually the grueling season wins. Still, you have to give the Lions a chance because that’s all they have ever asked for, and they’re willing to do the rest, no matter what it takes.

The season has done them dirty, but you can’t bury them. They came from the dirt.

[whatever_gong82]

Detroit Football Network

Detroit Lions' 2025 opponents set and a quick look at four Divisional round scenarios

Justin Rogers
Jan 06, 2025



After topping the Minnesota Vikings in the season finale — securing the division title and NFC’s No. 1 seed — we now know the full slate of opponents the Detroit Lions will face during the 2025 season.

Most were determined well ahead of Sunday night, per the NFL's standard schedule rotation. Teams from one division play a rotating division from the NFC and AFC each year. In 2025, the NFC North will match up against the NFC East and AFC South.


Along with the six intradivision games, those eight rotating divisional contests account for 14 of 17 games each season. The remaining three are determined by where a team finishes in their division standings.

As the first-place finisher in the NFC North, the Lions will play the first-place teams in the remaining two NFC divisions — the South and West — in addition to a rotating AFC division. That one is the 17th game the league added to the schedule in 2021. For Detroit, it will be the AFC West winner.


Note that the home and road elements of the schedule are also based on rotations. There’s no randomness to which games will be played at Ford Field or an opposing stadium each season, outside the possibility of a game being played internationally.

Finally, since the Lions played nine home games in 2024, they’ll be on the road for nine next year. Now that we understand the details, here’s the breakdown:


Home

Chicago Bears

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers


Away

Chicago Bears

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Rams

Philadelphia Eagles

Washington Commanders


Quick Thoughts

While it’s premature to assess the strength of the schedule without knowing the coaching changes and roster moves each team will make during the upcoming offseason, next year’s road schedule looks brutal, particularly the docket of opposing quarterbacks.


In addition to Detroit’s divisional opponents, they’re set to play Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts and upstart Jayden Daniels in 2025. You can add Matthew Stafford to that mix, as well, assuming he doesn’t abruptly call it a career after this season.

Adding to that challenge, Detroit’s projected starting defense could look significantly different in 2025. Cornerback Carlton Davis III, outside linebacker Derrick Barnes and defensive end Marcus Davenport are among the players set to hit free agency, plus the team could have a new coordinator with Aaron Glenn drawing strong interest for head coaching vacancies.


At first glance, the home schedule appears less daunting, although the Giants and Browns are primed for roster overhauls that make their future more difficult to project.

As for the dates and times for the full 17-game schedule, the NFL typically releases that information in May.


Potential playoff opponents

Before the Lions have to worry about 2025, the franchise has Super Bowl aspirations to pursue.

As the No. 1 seed in the NFC, the team will enjoy a bye during the Wild Card weekend. They’ll welcome the conference’s lowest-remaining seed to Ford Field in two weeks because the league reseeds between rounds.

There are four potential opponents for the Divisional round: Green Bay, Washington, Minnesota or the Los Angeles Rams.


No. 7 seed Green Bay (11-6)

Possessing a top-10 scoring offense and defense, the Packers still struggled against top opponents this season, losing all four games to the Lions and Vikings, as well as getting tripped up by the conference’s No. 2 seed, the Philadelphia Eagles, in the season opener. The Packers will have to win a rematch with the Eagles next week to punch their ticket back to Detroit, where they suffered a 34-31 loss in Week 14.


The Packers are led by quarterback Jordan Love, who didn’t take the step forward many anticipated in his fourth season, remaining firmly among the league's middle class at the position. His lack of a production jump was covered up by the offseason addition of running back Josh Jacobs, who racked up 1,329 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground this season.

Additionally, Green Bay’s defense was significantly better in 2025 following a change at coordinator. This year’s unit allowed fewer than 20 points per game and was among the league leaders against the run and at generating turnovers.

No. 6 seed Washington (12-5)

It had been 11 years since the Commanders won double-digit games in the regular season, but the franchise clearly got it right with their coaching hire and first-round draft pick last offseason.

Taking over the league’s worst defense, coach Dan Quinn got the operation heading in the right direction, leading them to a middle-of-the-pack finish in 2024. But the surge in the standings was led by Daniels, the dynamic dual-threat passer who took the league by storm after he was selected No. 2 overall out of LSU in April.


The rookie looked anything but completing 69.0% of his passes with a 25-to-9 touchdown-to-interception ratio to go with 891 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.


With quality weapons around Daniels, including running back Brian Robinson and wide receiver Terry McLaurin, the Commanders averaged 28.5 points per game this season, up nearly 47% from a year ago.

The Commanders will play the Lions if they beat the Buccaneers on the road and the Packers lose in Philadelphia.


No. 5 seed Minnesota (14-3)

If both the Packers and Commanders falter on the road, it will leave the winner of the No. 4/No. 5 matchup to return to Detroit for a regular season rematch.

You already know the Vikings' story fresh off Sunday’s game. Led by coach of the year candidate Kevin O’Connell, he revitalized the career of quarterback Sam Darnold in 2024. Despite a dud outing to close the season, the former No. 3 pick finally put things together in his seventh campaign, posting a 102.5 passer rating this season.


It doesn’t hurt to have one of the league’s best arsenals, headlined by wide receiver Justin Jefferson. But there’s no shortage of options with a pair of former first-round picks in receiver Jordan Addison and tight end T.J. Hockenson, as well as the always-reliable Aaron Jones in the backfield.

Of course, the Vikings defense is just as dynamic. With mastermind Brian Flores pulling the strings, the league’s most-aggressive unit does a great job limiting scoring, thanks to a league-leading 33 takeaways.


No. 4 seed Los Angeles (10-7)

The Rams won’t wow anyone, statistically, but they’re a well-coached team that dug out from a 1-4 hole to start the year, winning five in a row to clinch the NFC West before resting many of their key starters in a season-ending loss to Seattle.

It starts with the offense for Los Angeles. Stafford remains lethal in the pocket, especially when his top targets, Cooper Kupp and Puca Nacua are reasonably healthy. The operation is buoyed by the consistency of running back Kyren Williams, who set career-highs in rushing yards (1,299) and touchdowns (14) this season.


Coming into the year, the Rams' defense was notably young and inexperienced, but the unit showed steady improvement throughout the season. Following the retirement of Aaron Donald this past offseason, the team reloaded up front. They're led by a dynamic starting group of Braden Fiske, Kobie Turner, Byron Young, and Jared Verse, who is a top candidate for Defensive Rookie of the Year.

The Lions squeaked by the Rams in the playoffs last year, and again in this year's season opener. There’s little need to rehash all the ties between the franchises, from the quarterbacks to Lions general manager Brad Holmes, accentuating the potential matchup.

[whatever_gong82]

https://x.com/Lions/status/1876298178972045635

[whatever_gong82]

https://x.com/Lions/status/1876117787728572756

[Iron Lion]

Winning comfortably without Monty is not only a good sign, but also optimal because he gets some extra rest. I initially assumed that winning also without Thor, so he could heal up more obviously, would also have been optimal. But turns out, looks like he might've established this defense right in time for the playoffs. Very much worth it.

[froot loops]

The thing to remember about Thor is he is so physically big that when he's paired with Campbell and Nowaske it makes it so much harder to run against. Some of the guys they brought in to help them while those guys were hurt were credible NFL players but they were much smaller.

Craig Reynolds has done a pretty good job with the short yardage Monty carries.

[chemiclord]

One difference with AA back in the lineup was how Hockenson wasn't running free at the second level like TEs had been the last month.

[Mainevent]

AA looked juiced last night - he was flying around even more so than usual. That time off might reap benefits for him with the rest he was able to get.

[Meano.Culpa]

One difference with AA back in the lineup was how Hockenson wasn't running free at the second level like TEs had been the last month.

Compare Anzalone from 2021/'22 to now. Better Lion DBs - in particular better safeties - mean AA isn't trying to cover too much ground. The holes in the defense with Branch & Kerby are smaller and Anzalone is always in the right position.