Detroit Lions 'ready to go whip on the Cowboys,' get 2 seed in NFC playoffs
The Dallas Cowboys are next up on the schedule, but with their first division title in 30 years secured, the Detroit Lions are gearing up to face a different opponent.
"The biggest opponent right now for us is really the satisfaction, complacency," Lions coach Dan Campbell said. "That is what we’re going to fight from here on out."
The Lions returned to work Tuesday for the first time since beating the Minnesota Vikings, 30-24, to clinch the NFC North championship.
They'll be a top-three seed in the NFC playoffs, host at least one postseason game for the first time since January of 1994, and they spent the better part of two days celebrating the achievement (not to mention Christmas with their families).
But with two games left in the regular season, Campbell reminded his team in its return to work Tuesday not to get too caught up in its own success.
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"All these questions," he said. "And I understand why you’d ask it and why it is a big story, because it’s been 30 years. But if we continue to talk about it and we answer them and we live in that moment, then we’re not getting to the next thing. And it’s really no different than what happens in the playoffs. You win a big game in the playoffs, well, you don’t have time to really enjoy it. You’ve got to get ready for the next one and that’s where we’re at."
Next up on the Lions' goal chart is to secure at least the two seed in the NFC playoffs.
The Lions, San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles are tied atop the NFC with 11-4 records, with the Cowboys (10-5) a game behind the Eagles in the NFC East standings.
The 49ers can earn the No. 1 seed and homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs by winning out or with losses by the Lions and Eagles this week, while the Lions can take the No. 2 seed if they win their final two games at Dallas on Saturday and home against the Vikings in Week 18. The Lions will hold the tiebreaker over the Eagles if both teams finish 13-4 based on having a better record in games against common opponents.
The Lions can climb to the No. 1 seed with wins the next two weeks and a 49ers loss.
"I’m ready to go whip on the Cowboys, get that two seed," defensive back Chase Lucas said after the Vikings game.
The Lions lost their first game this season to the Seattle Seahawks one week after they beat the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in a statement game in the NFL's season opener.
They suffered another loss on Thanksgiving against the Green Bay Packers, four days after an emotional come-from-behind win over the Chicago Bears, and lost to the Bears two weeks later after withstanding a wild comeback by the New Orleans Saints.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff said he does not feel like complacency was an issue in any of those losses, though he admitted "that's what you get fearful of when you do win a division."
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"And certainly, in our situation, won one for the first time in a long time and think the job’s done, and by no means is it," he said. "We’ve got a ton more goals ahead of us and everything is in our control, and we can go out there and do whatever we want to this year, just have to go execute."
Campbell said he does not think his team has gotten content with its accomplishments, either, and with a division title in hand and the playoffs ahead he wants to make sure that doesn't change now.
"I wish we had more time to enjoy it," he said. "But we don’t and we’re off to the next one and we’ve got to want more, we’ve got to stay hungry, or we won’t be able to get the next one."
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
Next up: Cowboys
Matchup: Lions (11-4) at Dallas (10-5).
Kickoff: 8:15 p.m. Saturday; AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas.
TV/radio: ABC, ESPN & ESPN2 (ManningCast); WXYT-FM (97.1).
Line: Cowboys by 6.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions' biggest opponent with division title secure complacency
