Heading into their Week 7 matchup with the Baltimore Ravens, the Detroit Lions had won four straight and were anointed by some as the best team in the NFC.
That is why head coach Dan Campbell said Sunday’s embarrassing 38-6 shellacking was exactly what the Lions needed to keep themselves grounded and not let their early-season success go to their heads.
“You don’t want these to happen, but when it does, it re-centers you, it refocuses you,” Campbell told reporters. “I don’t want it to happen, nobody wants it to happen, nobody likes to look over there and watch them having a great time because they kicked our a–. Nobody thinks that’s fun, but I know that motivates me for next week, it motivates our team. You’ll do any and everything you can not to have that feeling again.”
The Lions had not only beaten their last four opponents prior to Baltimore — they won each game by 14 or more points. The team was ranked in the top five in offense, the top 10 in defense and averaging 28 points per game.
But on Sunday, Detroit couldn’t seem to do anything right.
