2019 NFC Championship game (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
The Detroit Lions offense is still ahead of the defense under Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell. However, it’s very different than what we’ve seen in the past.
This week the Lions will have their full squad together for OTA’s. With a roster that has started the process of being turned over, it will be good to get the whole team on the field to start the process of building continuity.
The lack of offseason activities last year may very well have hindered the Lions more than Matt Patricia’s coaching, but this year will be more normal. Perhaps not completely normal, but close enough to give head coach Dan Campbell and his staff an opportunity to start building chemistry instead of going right from training camp to games that count.
This new regime has started charting the course that they believe will lead to the Lions not only becoming contenders but actually competing for a Super Bowl title. Brad Holmes was part of the Rams front office that built their Super Bowl LIII participant.
Meanwhile, Dan Campbell was part of New Orleans’ coaching staff for the last five seasons. All of which saw the Saints be highly competitive and legitimate championship contenders. As a matter of fact, had the officials actually called the obvious pass interference on the Rams late in the 2019 NFC title game, it probably would have been New Orleans matching up against New England instead of Los Angeles in Super Bowl LIII.
Revisionist history aside, both Holmes and Campbell come from winning cultures and so far have been on the same page about how they plan to drag the Lions out of the clueless wilderness they have been lost in for the last 60 years. Smart, economical free agent signings, building through the draft, and good coaching is their recipe.
An oldie, but a goodie that other teams have used to build championship teams. The hope is that Campbell’s Lions will look noticeably different from those of the Patricia regime, however, there does seem to be one big similarity.