Lions expect unfriendly welcome in Philly as they gauge where they stand in NFC – The Athletic
Dan Campbell opened the vault of memories from his playing career and recalled a story from his rookie year that is equal parts off-putting and telling.
Campbell’s Giants were playing the Eagles in Philly. In overtime, Giants defensive end Michael Strahan tipped a pass thrown by Doug Pederson, caught it and returned it for a 44-yard pick six — ending the game. As the team ran onto the field to celebrate, Campbell noticed a strange liquid being poured onto players in the end zone.
“We all go back to meet him, and it was like a 64-ounce cup this guy had that was full of tobacco spit, and I’m running over there celebrating and he pours it on Strahan’s back while everybody is running over there,” Campbell told Detroit’s 97.1 The Ticket on Tuesday. “I backed off at the last minute. It’s a hostile environment, it gets you fired up.”
Leave it to Campbell to find the charm in a story like that, but that’s his mindset.
He loves games like this and has since he was a player. This one, against this team, never materialized the way many anticipated last season. Facing the defending Super Bowl champions in their building is the sort of game that lets you know if you’ve got it or not, as December looms.
Traveling to Philadelphia to play the Eagles (7-2) will be one of the Lions’ toughest challenges. This is one of the most talented rosters in the NFL. They’ve got an All-Pro running back in Saquon Barkley, one of the league’s best offensive lines, a pair of star receivers, a quarterback who can elevate his game in big moments and a talented defense that’s starting to round into form. This franchise has appeared in two Super Bowls over the last three seasons.
Campbell has much respect for the Eagles and views them as a barometer in the NFC.
“They just have a style and they’re very good at it,” Campbell said. “And I wouldn’t say there’s anything necessarily complex about it, but it’s very sound. It’s very sound across the board. And like I say, (Eagles head coach) Nick (Sirianni)’s done an unbelievable job. And then coach (Eagles defensive coordinator Vic) Fangio, he’s a legend, man. … But I just think it’s good, sound football. And they don’t beat themselves. At the end of the day, they don’t beat themselves. And when they need a critical play, they come up with a critical play. And that’s what champions do, and that’s why they’ve been able to have the success that they’ve had.”
When you examine these teams and how they were built, they overlap in some ways. Lions OC John Morton coached on staff with Fangio in San Francisco. Right guard Tate Ratledge spent countless practices lining up against the likes of Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis and other Georgia players on this Eagles defense. The Lions passed on Carter in the 2023 NFL Draft to trade down in a move that netted them Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta. Terrion Arnold and Quinyon Mitchell were regarded as the two best cornerbacks in the 2024 draft class — and will forever be linked, going just two picks apart. Lane Johnson and Penei Sewell are viewed as the NFL’s top tackles. These are arguably the two most talented rosters in the NFC.
“They’ve acquired their players a number of different ways, but they certainly have drafted well, and a lot of the players they have are a lot of the same players we really were high on, too,” Campbell said. “That says a lot, just on the respect level of those players they have over there and what they do and their process. Certainly, we don’t have the same process as them, and we’re good with that. You know, we do ours a little bit different. Brad and I go about our business a tick different, but there’s a lot of different ways to skin a cat.”
As the NFC’s No. 2 seed a year ago, the Eagles slotted behind a Lions team that limped into the playoffs. It’s fair to wonder what could’ve been — had the Lions been healthy entering the playoffs. It might be one of the greatest “what ifs” in Detroit sports history. If they had beaten the Commanders, they would’ve faced the Eagles in Detroit for a trip to the Super Bowl.
It’s a matchup the two teams were ready for, had it materialized.
“I thought we were gonna play them last year,” said Lions DB Avonte Maddox, a Detroit native who joined the team this offseason after seven seasons in Philadelphia, speaking from an Eagles perspective. “That’s the game that we wanted to play. So that (would’ve been) a big one on our schedule as well last year. We wanted the opportunity to play them, and now this year, we got the opportunity to play each other. I’m just on the opposite side this time, which is pretty cool.”
“I mean, really, the last two years, we thought we were going to face them at some point,” Campbell said. “We really believed that. So, I would just say that’s always kind of been there. Like, ‘Hey, we’re going to face the Eagles.’ Those are one of those teams that, as you go throughout a season over the last two years, some of these teams you face and you play, you’re like, you’re not playing this team per se, (but) was it good enough to beat Philly when we face them? Was it good enough to beat San Francisco when we face them, like ’23? … It’s about you. You’re holding up your standards on what you believe winning football is, championship football is.”
Per The Athletic’s playoff simulator, the Lions currently have an 11 percent chance at the NFC’s No. 1 seed. A win essentially doubles those chances. A loss drops it to about 2 percent. If seeding is the goal, there will be serious implications for a game like this.
“I mean, ultimately, where we see ourselves as a team, every year the standard is to battle for that No. 1 seed and they’re one of those teams that we’re gonna battle with,” Lions edge Aidan Hutchinson said this week. “So, that’s why it’s a must-win in my eyes. It’s gonna set us up really good for the last stretch of the season.”
Players are embracing this one more than they have others. Hutchinson called it a “must-win” game. Campbell likes that his players are approaching the game with that mindset. They’ll need it, knowing what they’re walking into.
The environment the Lions will see on Sunday evening is one that many are already familiar with. Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp, who won a Super Bowl with the Eagles in 2017, was asked if his family would be traveling to Philadelphia for the game.
“Oh no,” Fipp said. “You don’t go there with the wrong color jersey.”
Lions LB Alex Anzalone, a Pennsylvania native who will play in Philadelphia for the first time in front of fans, shared his experiences growing up watching the team.
“I wasn’t really allowed to go to the games until I was a certain age,” Anzalone said. “It’s for a reason, you know, seeing some obscene things. We expect it all.”
A night game at Lincoln Financial Field is a good test for this Lions team. The Eagles would love nothing more than to make it to their third Super Bowl in four years — and win back-to-back titles. The Lions believe they’re built to prevent that.
More importantly, the Lions want to see how they stack up in the NFC.
They’ll find out Sunday.
“When you’re a competitor, you just love it,” Campbell said. “Man, you go on the road and everybody — it’s you against everybody else. And it’s very clear that it’s you against everybody else there. … You go some places, man, they wave at you, ‘We’re so happy you’re here to play against us.’ This is not one of those places, that’s it. It’s as far from that as you can possibly get. I loved playing atmospheres like that, and I just know the type of guys we have. I think they’re going to eat it up, I really do.”
