Faith. In sports, it’s often a loser’s lament. A refuge for the try-hard teams, for those that hang on to what-ifs.
But when Dan Campbell mentioned the word Sunday afternoon during his postgame news conference, he wasn’t using it in any of those contexts.
He was talking about a different kind of faith, faith that turned into truth, faith from the not-so-distant past, when his Detroit Lions were 1-6 and had just lost another achingly close game, this time to the Dolphins, a home loss that could’ve been a win — maybe should’ve been a win — and how in that moment, and in the moments that followed that evening and the rest of that week, his team easily could have lost it.
Faith.
His team kept it.
In each other, in the franchise, in him.
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You can point to adjustments on defense and Jared Goff’s improved quarterback play and the returns — and debuts — of some key players if you like, and obviously all these things are why the Lions have won five of six since that disastrous start.
But really, it began with faith. Because teams don’t flip their season after such depressing beginnings very often. This is what the Lions have done, though. This is why they beat the Vikings, 34-23, on Sunday at Ford Field. This is why they have a real shot at the playoffs.
Faith.
“I’ve said it before,” Campbell said, “it’s hard when you get down in the dumps and you were where we were at, it’s easy to lose faith. But these guys never did, and we stayed true to what we’re about and they knew, they believed we were one play away and that’s where we’ve been.”
And now?
“We’re making the play; we’re making the one extra play … and we’re able to overcome some of these mistakes we were making earlier. Our guys know they belong. They know they belong, and they know when they play football like we’ve been playing the last six weeks we can play with anybody. That’s the truth.”
Campbell, of course, would never take credit for his part in this stunning turnaround. He would, however, take blame, and he did, Sunday after Sunday, when he’d arrive at the podium after another brutal loss and open a vein.
“That’s coaching,” he would say, trying to explain the misfortune.
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“That’s on me. I’ve got to do better.”
His humility helped; you can believe that. So, too, did the fact that he kept his faith in his players. That while he changed his approach to practice, for example, shortening their overall length in exchange for more hitting and intensity and individual drill work, he didn’t change who he was.
He kept the faith.
Here’s how Penei Sewell described Campbell’s faith after the coach called a pass play to the big offensive tackle with the game in the balance:
“Dude’s got some nuts on him, bro. Like, that’s as simple as that. I couldn’t find another word, but yeah, Dan Campbell’s going to be him and nobody’s going to change that and that’s what I love about him.”
Sewell wanted to use another description to describe Campbell’s mental fortitude and willingness to take risks. His coach probably wouldn’t have minded.
He didn’t need to, though. That’s a kind of faith, too.
None of this has been blind faith, of course. Campbell called the play for Sewell because he knew he could catch the pass, because he’d seen him do it in practice, because he believes in Sewell as a supreme athlete who, in another life, might have been an All-Pro tight end.
This wasn’t Campbell seeing what sticks. His guts may come from his faith, but his faith comes from what he knows is true, from work, from sweat equity he has developed with his players, from sweat equity they’ve developed with him.
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“We had practiced — had good practice reps with it,” he said. “We’d used (Sewell) earlier in that fast motion, and so we just — we felt really good about it being there because when you see him coming, you’re not going to just think he’s going to the flat, he’s going to block you one more time like he did before. … We trusted him.”
Such gambles won’t always work. The first seven games of the season showed that. But there are gambles and then there are gambles. Leaps of faith, if you will, that arise from knowing who you are and knowing who those around you are.
This is Campbell’s gift. And it’s not some secret sauce, said Goff, and even though Campbell changed a coordinator and changed a defensive backs coach and changed how he tackled practice and even changed when and where he chose to be aggressive during a game, he didn’t change how he connected with those in the locker room.
He didn’t change his faith.
This isn’t easy. But it’s why he has saved the Lions season — for now.
“He’s the same guy every day,” Goff said Sunday. “He’s been the same guy since I’ve been here, and he’s the same guy every week, and approaches everything with energy and confidence and enthusiasm.”
Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.