When Detroit played Philadelphia last year, the Lions suffered their worst loss of the season.
The Eagles won the Week Eight contest 44-6 — the only time the Lions failed to score double-digit points in 2021.
Philadelphia rushed for 236 yards in that game. Detroit managed only 228 total yards.
On Monday, Lions head coach Dan Campbell said the team hasn’t hidden from what happened last year and that he expects the Eagles to try and exploit the same issues.
“I mean, it was embarrassing. It was an embarrassing loss,” Campbell said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “They let us have it, they rubbed our nose in it and that’s — listen, man, they came in and did everything that they wanted to do, they did to us, times 10. So I think we’ve acknowledged that and we understand that that’s what they’re coming back for.
“If I’m them, I’m doing the same thing. We’re going to come back and attack you the same way and see if you fixed any of your problems.”
But Campbell also called the game a sort of turning point for Detroit. That game was the Lions’ last before the bye week, after which Campbell made some changes that eventually helped the team finish 3-3 in the last six weeks.
“It opened our eyes to some things and I think it forced us to really — well, it forced us to have to make some changes both sides of the ball,” Campbell said. “We had to do things differently ‘cause where we were going wasn’t going to cut it. Yeah, it’s somewhat a blessing in disguise, I guess. You make the most of something that’s a negative, you turn it into a positive, and I felt like we did that to a certain extent.”
It’s a new year and both teams are different. But Week One could be a significant measuring stick as to how much Detroit has improved over the 2022 offseason.
