Dan Campbell has not won a ton of games since he took over as the head coach of the Detroit Lions, but he has already proven to be better than his predecessors in one important area.
The Lions have held their own against great opponents under Campbell. With their upset win over the New York Giants on Sunday, Detroit improved to 3-0 under Campbell when facing teams that are five or more games above .500. The Lions’ previous four head coaches — Darrell Bevell, Matt Patricia, Jim Caldwell and Jim Schwartz — had zero such victories during their 11 combined seasons with the team.
Dan Campbell in Detroit for a long time
Lions coaches vs teams 5+ games over .500
Jim Schwartz: 0-10
Jim Caldwell: 0-8
Matt Patricia: 0-2
Darrell Bevell: 0-2
Dan Campbell: 3-0— 🦁 Brad Positional Villain Holmes Honolulu Blue 🦁 (@DumasMike) November 20, 2022
That does not seem like a fluke. The Lions have won three consecutive games after beginning the year 1-6. They won just three games last year in Campbell’s first season with the team. Past Lions teams would probably have mailed it in by now, and they certainly would not have stood a chance of beating an opponent with a 7-2 record on the road.
Campbell is known for his intense personality and often comes across like a WWE character. That can make it difficult to take him seriously, but he is clearly doing something that several Lions coaches before him could not.
