Last week's loss to the Minnesota Viking dropped the Detroit Lions to 5-3 on the season as they currently hold the last Wild Card card spot in the NFC playoff picture heading into Week 10. Detroit's three losses are more than they had all last season when they were an NFC best 15-2 and earned the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
But Lions head coach Dan Campbell thinks his football team is in the perfect position right now heading into the home stretch of the season.
"It's good to be a little bit of an afterthought again," Campbell said Friday. "It's nice. It's like, 'Hey man, all good.' There're some teams playing some good football, and we're whatever, and that's all good, man. This is good. We'll go about our business over in the corner and get our stuff right and come out humming. So, it's good.
"I told the team before it started, and the reality is when you win 15 games and you only lose two in a season, then boy. It's going to be looked at differently when you lose a game. And surely if you lose more than two games, you only lost two last year, so you lose three, 'What's going on?' So, I told our guys to be ready for that."
When the 2025 schedule came out in April, most thought it was going to be tough for the Lions to match their 15-2 record from last season, but most would also agree after some upgrades on defense, they had a chance to be an overall better football team.
Campbell believes come December and January, this 2025 version of the Detroit Lions has a chance to be a better football team than last year even with more marks in the loss column.
"That doesn't mean anything," he said. "We could be a better team. By the end of the year, you're a better team than you were with 15 and two. And I don't know what that record is, but that's a real thing. I think that's going to happen."
DECKER AND SEWELL TRENDING TOWARD PLAYING
Detroit Lions starting tackles Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell have both been dealing with shoulder injuries this week and both sat out practice Wednesday. Detroit's tackles were back on the practice field Thursday, and Campbell said Friday its trending toward both being available to play Sunday when the Lions hit the road to play the Commanders in Washington.
That's certainly good news as the Lions try to get the bad taste of last week's loss to Minnesota out of their mouth while also facing a Commanders team where the strength of their defense is the defensive line.
"I think our main motivation coming off last week is let's get back on track and go out there and play the brand of football we know we can play," Decker said Thursday. "More than anything, I want to get back on track from last week because that wasn't a performance we were happy to have as an offense or even a team. I think everyone wants to get back on track and play our brand of football."
TRUST IN MAULET
Cornerback Arthur Maulet played 18 snaps at slot cornerback last week against the Vikings and was in coverage on Vikings wide receiver Jalen Nailor's 16-yard catch on 3rd & 5 with one minute, 21 seconds left in the game that sealed Minnesota's win over Detroit.
Maulet has played well when given an opportunity this year because of injury, particularly in Detroit's Week 7 win over Tampa Bay. Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said he won't hesitate to put the veteran cornerback on an island with the game on the line again.
"I wouldn't have it any other way. And I wouldn't have no other guy (in there), no other," Sheppard said. "You say, 'Put this guy.' No, I'm putting Arthur Maulet on the guy, he was in phase, he was in the basket, and the guy made a play. Made a great play, credit to him, and we'll see them again on Christmas."
Maulet, 32, has 10 tackles on the season with an interception. Opposing passers have a 64.6 passer rating when throwing his way, per Pro Football Reference statistic.
EXTRA POINTS
- Campbell said cornerback D.J. Reed is doing well in his rehab from a hamstring injury and he expects him back in the lineup in early December.
- Edge rusher Josh Paschal returned to practice this week after rehabbing a back injury that's kept him out all season. Campbell said Paschal has looked good in practice and is on a similar return-to-play trajectory as Alim McNeill, who returned to practice for a couple weeks before getting back in the lineup on gameday.
