Lions News: How Detroit became contenders in just 3 years

It hasn’t been an easy road for the Detroit Lions. At this point, everyone knows the history. For decades, the franchise felt as though they couldn’t get things right. Even when there were glimmers of hope from Hall of Famers like Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson, they couldn’t get enough together to make things click.

Then, after an especially embarrassing performance on Thanksgiving back in 2020, Lions principal owner Sheila Hamp said enough was enough. She cleaned house before the end of that season and immediately began laying the groundwork of her plan to make this team a consistent winner—something the city and its fans can be proud of.

That plan led them to hire both coach Dan Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes in 2021, and the two got to work. Cameron Wolfe of the NFL Network joined “The Insiders” to discuss how the Lions have built a Super Bowl contender in Detroit, and how it wasn’t an immediate success by any means.

Wolfe dove into how Campbell leads the team, including some specific examples from left tackle Taylor Decker that really highlights just how good of a communicator Campbell is as a coach. You can listen to the full segment from Wolfe below.

And now, onto the rest of today’s notes:

• Lions defensive tackle DJ Reader handed out 250 Thanksgiving meals at Detroit Edison Public School Academy this Friday and ESPN’s Eric Woodyard was there to speak with Reader during the event.

• Greg Cosell of “NFL Matchup” on ESPN breaks down the dagger concept and how Detroit’s offense executes it so well.

• Best safety duo in the league and it’s really not much of a debate.

• I hope Indianapolis is ready for a different shade of blue to take over their town for the weekend.