Dan Campbell Already Putting New Lions Coach in the Hot Seat
Even though the Detroit Lions healthily beat the Chicago Bears at Ford Field in Detroit, the team is already focused their next matchup, which is a big one. On Monday, September 22, the Lions will take on the Baltimore Ravens for Monday Night Football on the road. This game would be tough even in a home setting, but it will be extra difficult in Baltimore.
The Detroit Lions, of course, lost their initial game against the Green Bay Packers, and it wasn’t close. That hurt, but it was great to see them come back the following week and win by so much over the Chicago Bears. But, Lions head coach Dan Campbell and the crew haven’t forgotten that first game.
Ahead of the Monday night showdown, Campbell is putting the heat on his players and coaching staff. Even though the Lions are clear underdogs in this matchup, he wants to pull off a surprise victory, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just another chance to prove the naysayers wrong.
Detroit Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell Sends a Message
Heading into Monday’s game, Campbell is putting pressure on coordinator Kelvin Sheppard to have the defense ready to take on the NFL’s top offense, noting that, “We can’t give anything away on defense. We’ve gotta be very disciplined,” Lions insider Eric Woodyard reports of our favorite Metallica man.
So, Campbell is already putting some heat on Sheppard. But, Sheppard understands the pressure at hand, and on Friday, September 19, he told reporters that he’s lost sleep over it.
“This daunting matchup will be Sheppard’s first challenge as defensive coordinator,” Efstathios Savvidis of Detroit Jock City notes in a Thursday, September 18 feature. “So far, his unit has performed alright at best, ranking 17th against the run (106), 12th against the pass (196.5), tied 16th in sacks (4), and 21st in points allowed (24). ”
He adds, “This week, facing an intimidating offense, he must prepare his unit to limit the big plays from their high-powered offense.”
It’ll be a huge test for the Lions’ defense, and defensive end Aidan Hutchinson will likely be leading the pack on the field. “It’s going to be a challenge for the defense, but they must limit the Ravens and give Jared Goff and the offense a chance to outscore them,” Savvidis notes.
Ben Johnson and Jared Goff After the Detroit Lions Game
If you haven’t see this yet, this is absolutely a moment that you need to witness. After the Lions’ win over the Bears, Johnson first had a very quick handshake with Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell. Then, footage caught Goff trying to catch up to his former boss and shake his hand.
Goff rushed over to Johnson and tried to catch him before he left the field, but Johnson didn’t seemed interested in at all. In a video shared on X by Dov Kleiman on Tuesday, September 16, Kleiman notes, “Ben Johnson’s beef with the Lions is real. Jared Goff literally had to chase him down. He didn’t wait to say hi to anyone.” This is a wild look and not a great one for Johnson.
It’s going to be epic to see these teams go at it again before the regular season is over. Reach out to me with your thoughts on it all.
Steelers vs. Patriots: Aaron Rodgers Chases Philip Rivers’ Record as Mike Tomlin Nears Chuck Knox’s Milestone
The 21st and likely final regular season of Aaron Rodgers’ career is officially under way, and there’s a slew of all-time records on the table for both him and his newfound head coach, Mike Tomlin. The Pittsburgh Steelers are a bastion of football history, but thanks to Rodgers, there’s now a pair of opportunities for the franchise to add that much more to its rich existence.
Starting with Rodgers, the former Super Bowl champion has 63,399 career passing yards, currently good for the seventh most by any quarterback in NFL history. Although, heading into his Week 3 match up against the New England Patriots, Rodgers needs just 42 passing yards to break Philip Rivers’ record to become the sixth all-time leader in passing yards.
With a current average of 223.5 passing yards per game, Rodgers is on track to finish this season with 3,800 passing yards. That’d grant him a career total of 67,199, which would be enough to dethrone Ben Roethlisberger for the fifth overall spot in the all-time rankings, all while wearing a Pittsburgh uniform.
Then there’s the perennial winning head coach, Mike Tomlin. Thanks to a Week 1 win against the New York Jets, the 53-year-old veteran now has 184 career wins as a head coach, the 12th most of any head coach in NFL history.
Tomlin is just two wins shy of Chuck Knox’s career total. Three more wins is all he needs to jump him in the all-time rankings, and assuming that he’s able to maintain his career-long streak of winning seasons, Tomlin will finish the 2025 regular season with no less than 193 victories.
A winning record in 2025 would put Tomlin in a tie with the second-to-last head coach of the Steelers, Chuck Noll, and it would also see him officially earn the title of being a top-10 head coach when it comes to producing wins.
Anything less, however, and Tomlin will have to wait until 2026 before he can begin to rival his predecessor. The Steelers hit a bit of a road bump in Week 2, losing 31-17 to the Seattle Seahawks, who are anything but world beaters.
Pittsburgh pursued Rodgers simply for the fact that they are hoping to end their postseason drought as soon as possible. The franchise hasn’t won a playoff game since 2016, even though they’ve managed to reach the postseason five times since then.
Unfortunately for them, things haven’t gotten any easier. Patrick Mahomes is still present, the Baltimore Ravens look as strong as ever, and Josh Allen is taking the league by storm right now.
Suffice to say, if Rodgers and co. want to find their first playoff win together, then they’ll need to improve upon the form that they showed in Week 2. Otherwise, this potentially historic campaign will go out with a whimper rather than the sound of broken records.
