The Detroit Lions just walked into Baltimore’s house, got their revenge for a 2023 beating that ended 38-6, and stuffed a Super Bowl hopeful with a statement 38-30 victory. But instead of an eruption of cheers and Gatorade showers, the man at the helm, Dan Campbell, delivered a warning. 

But to hear Campbell tell it, the win was just a byproduct of something deeper, a philosophy he’s been preaching since day one. “I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again,” he began, his voice a low rumble. “Our hardest workers are our best players.” It’s not lip service, he insisted. “It’s not fake. It’s not… Our best players are our hardest workers. Go out and watch them practice. And it’s like that every day.” 

“And so…” Campbell’s voice carried, the warning hanging in the air. “That’s the standard. That’s the standard. So if you’re not up to that standard with the effort matching what our best players do, then you’re not going to be around here very long.”

The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. The Lions’ offensive line, a bruised and battered group, put on a clinic. Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, the dynamic duo, combined for a staggering 218 rushing yds and 4 scores. Their constant churning wore down a Ravens defense that was already missing two of its best disruptors in Nnamdi Madubuike and Kyle Van Noy, who had something to say post-match..

The two backs powered Detroit to an NFL record, becoming the first running back tandem to hit 11 career games with a TD apiece. But it wasn’t just the running game. Goff was surgical, connecting on a picture-perfect lob to Amon-Ra St. Brown after a double move to tie the game at 21-21, part of a 98-yd drive that was just one of two monster drives on the night.

Campbell’s standard: Relentless, ruthless, unapologetic

And then there’s the defense, which, despite a few early-game hiccups (allowing the Ravens’ opening drive TD), completely took over. They swarmed Lamar Jackson with Al-Quadin Muhammad registering 2.5 sacks. The team racked up a whopping 7 sacks, including a clutch strip-sack by Jack Campbell. They even stonewalled King Henry himself at the goal line on 3 consecutive carries, a moment that felt like a seismic shift in the game’s momentum.

The audacity of it all was beautiful, for the Lions to break the 0-4 curse. With the game in the balance, facing a fourth-and-2 from their own 49, most coaches would’ve punted. Not this crew. They went for it. Jared Goff, cool as you like, delivered a perfect lob to Amon-Ra St. Brown, a dirk that kept the ball from Baltimore’s hands and set up another Montgomery TD to ice the game.

That’s what makes the Lions look like the class of the NFC North, a fact they made clear after the Packers had their own little hiccup, losing a stinker to the Browns. “Anybody that comes in or we acquire, the young guys, all of it, man,” he finished. “And that’s the way we play. That’s what we do.”