Eric Woodyard, ESPN
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Should you? Or maybe it should?
Detroit Lions manager Dan Campbell weighed whether to rest him or start him heading into Monday Night Football’s showdown with the San Francisco 49ers.
After careful consideration, the Lions have decided to participate with top players in a rematch of the 2023 NFC Championship Game, where the Lions escaped Levi’s Stadium with a 40-34 victory over the San Francisco 49ers while avoiding major injuries. Ta.
“Yeah, it was on my mind and I thought about it a lot. I thought about it leading up to the game and I thought about it last night,” Campbell said. “I told the staff that, but ultimately I came to the conclusion that it was right for me to play with these players because I owe it to the team.
“It was just one of the positions we were in. It’s hard to say who’s going to sit and it’s not fair to ask players to play when they’re not ready to play,” he said. Ta. “So, yeah, it was tough. And the biggest thing was there were things I wanted to do better than last week and I was able to do that. I was able to clean up a lot of things offensively. Ta.”
Campbell said the game had no playoff implications, but the Lions were playing to win. However, in the last postseason, they overcame a 17-point deficit against the same team at halftime, falling one game short of advancing to the Super Bowl, and their pride was at stake.
For those who suffered defeat that day, the sense of loss still stings to this day.
“I really wanted that getback,” said Lions safety Kirby Joseph, who finished with two interceptions. “I feel like we came here last year and they beat us, so I still have the scar from last year on my shoulder.I feel like we came here last year and they beat us, so I still have the scar from last year on my shoulder. It didn’t mean that much, but this game meant a lot.”It was a very close game, and we were just one step away, so we wanted to come back here to San Fran and get the win, but we fell behind defensively. I know it was hard, but I was able to finish it. ”
Lions quarterback Jared Goff agreed.
In his return to California, he completed 26-of-34 passes for 303 passing yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Campbell said Goff came into the game with a mindset of going into the game because the starting lineup was playing, saying, “I put (the thought of being out) to bed pretty early in the week.” He threw three touchdowns in his seventh game of the season, tying Matthew Stafford (2011) for the most in a season in Lions history.
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“I think it’s going to be tough for him, but I think that’s the only way we know,” Goff said of Campbell starting. “You just go find a way to win and the team that was playing in San Francisco. This was the end of last year’s season and this team had a lot of guys that were there last year and they wanted to get back to winning. “In many ways it meant nothing to them and it meant nothing to us, but they were also proud and trying to beat us and it was a really fun game. ”
Detroit is currently preparing to play the Minnesota Vikings at home on Sunday night for the NFC North title and the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
For Campbell, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Detroit is one of five teams, along with the Cardinals, Texans, Buccaneers and Jets, to have never been a No. 1 seed since seeding began in 1975.
“This is what you’re supposed to do. This is what it comes down to,” Campbell said. “I mean, I couldn’t have written a better scenario. I couldn’t have come up with this. The fact that both teams are 14-2 and that’s for the division and the No. 1 seed. It’s like a fairy tale, and that in itself speaks to our excitement. ”
