Put yourself in Dan Campbell’s shoes in this Detroit Lions-themed corn maze
A corn maze is set to open on a local farm in honor of the Detroit Lions and their head coach Dan Campbell.
Dan Campbell didn’t plan on leaning on David Montgomery in overtime on Sunday, but that changed after one carry.
Campbell said he decided to bet on Montgomery’s winning streak in the final five minutes of Sunday’s 26-20 win over the Los Angeles Rams after the Detroit Lions running back made a 21-yard run on the second play of overtime.
“I think D-Mo’s first run was really like that, you just felt like he was taking over the game,” Campbell said Monday. “The first one, he got going and we had good movement up front and you could see the rush and you could feel No. 5 and it felt like we could break through. And we did.”
Montgomery carried the ball in five of the Lions’ eight overtime plays, ran 45 yards and scored the game-winning 1-yard touchdown.
He finished the game with 91 yards on 17 carries and is, along with Josh Jacobs, CJ Anderson and Rashard Mendenhall, the only players to run for at least 45 yards and a touchdown in overtime in the last 20 years.
GAME BALLS LIONS VS. RAMS: David Montgomery among the 3 big winners in the tough OT battle
Montgomery said Sunday he felt unstoppable in overtime.
“Nothing against them, but I was in the mood,” he said. “I was already in a situation at that point where I had to prove myself, and I felt like this was the best opportunity to do that – for me to show what I can do, but at the same time to show how much bite this offense and this team have.”
Status quo in the preseason
While Montgomery dominated in overtime and several other players had great performances on Sunday – Campbell highlighted Jameson Williams, Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, Alex Anzalone, Kerby Joseph, Jack Fox and Khalil Dorsey as standouts – the Lions showed clear rust in their opening game.
Jared Goff threw an interception and had some operational mishaps at quarterback. Brian Branch and Carlton Davis III allowed easy interceptions. Branch missed two tackles in the first half. And the Lions allowed 317 yards passing.
Campbell attributed his team’s inconsistency on Sunday to the fact that it was still in the first week of the NFL season, but said that would not prompt him to use his regular players again in the preseason.
The Lions have been without key regular players in the test matches over the last two seasons and have even had to do without some of their best substitutes this year.
“Because even then, what, are you going to play 20 games against them?” Campbell said. “I’d rather compete against ourselves and run 60 games, which is what we’ve done. The last two weeks, we’ve played 60 games against each other. So no, I’m not thinking about changing my approach, especially if you win the game. I feel good about where we are, and I said it last night: Do I like that we weren’t that clean? No, I don’t feel good about it, but I’m not upset about the win either. So, we’re going to clean it up like I told the team, we just have to worry about getting a little better next week.”
Mind games
Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill said he was so hyped up after Sunday’s win that he stayed up late watching TV after he got home.
“I was up until 4 a.m. just laying there,” McNeill said. “I watched the movie, and then, what was so crazy, Reba came on. I watched Reba.”
“He said he was what?” Campbell said incredulously when told about McNeill’s viewing habits.
“Look, it’s hard to sleep after a game anyway, especially when you get home at 2 a.m. or 1 p.m., I don’t know. It’s hard because your mind is racing and you look at the tape, you think about it and you think about all the different plays, what you could have done, what you wanted to do, what went right, what went wrong. So I can imagine it. I remember it as a player, so I can understand what Mac is talking about. It’s just like that, you go through that and I think that’s the hard thing about a night game, I think you can’t sleep. Even when you’re that tired, it’s just hard. Your mind won’t go to sleep.”
As for his choice of television shows, McNeill stressed that the early 2000s sitcom starring country singer Reba McEntire was not his original choice.
“My girlfriend has been watching it a lot lately, so it was just on TV all night,” McNeill said. “It was on Netflix.”
Dave Birkett is the author of the new book “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline.” Pre-order now from Reedy Press.
Contact him at [email protected]Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
