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Eric Woodyard, ESPN
TAMPA, Fla. – From the first day of OTAs, Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell and his staff placed an emphasis on getting off to a quicker start to prevent themselves from digging an early hole again.
In 2021, the Lions began 0-8 en route to a 3-13-1 finish.
In 2022, they went 2-6 before enjoying a late surge to finish 9-8 for their first winning record since 2017.
So, during team drills and all offseason activities, a different level of urgency was developed as they started everything at faster paces during practices and in-game situations.
And now, after a 20-6 road victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, the Lions are off to a 5-1 start for the first time since 2011. It’s tied for the best record in the league.
Amid that success, third-year wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown says they have bigger goals.
“To start off 5-1 is huge for us,” said St. Brown, who had a career-best 12 receptions for 124 yards and a touchdown against the Bucs. “So, we’re gonna celebrate this win, but as soon as next week approaches, we’re on to the next game. On to Baltimore. We put so much focus into each week and so much preparation and to come out with a victory, it feels really good, but we know we have bigger goals ahead of us.
“We want to keep doing what we’re doing, we want to get to the playoffs, we want to have home field advantage for the playoffs, so there’s so many things that we want to accomplish this year, but it’s just a start for us. We’ve got to keep going.”
The Lions have scored 20 or more points in 15 consecutive games, extending the longest streak in franchise history. It’s also the longest active streak in the NFL, despite playing without No. 12 overall pick Jahmyr Gibbs (hamstring) for the second straight week and losing veteran running back David Montgomery during the first half in Tampa Bay with a rib injury.
Campbell says he’ll learn more about Montgomery’s injury status going forward after follow-up tests on Monday.
Despite finishing with a season-low 40 rushing yards, the offense was able to display its versatility with Jared Goff passing for 353 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. He completed passes to 10 different targets.
The defense held the Buccaneers to under 50 rushing yards, which is the third time they’ve held an opponent under that mark through the first six games of the season. That hasn’t happened on a Lions team since 1943.
With each victory, the confidence continues to grow. Like many others on the squad, St. Brown feels that the Lions are one of the best teams in the league, but they’re not getting complacent.
“Last year, if you said the Lions are one of the worst teams in the league at this point, at the end of the year, you might’ve been saying something different,” St. Brown said. “There’s still a lot of football left to be played, but if we keep playing like this, we’ll have a shot.”
In 2011, when the Lions last started 5-1, they won five of their final 10 regular season games before suffering a 45-28 loss to the New Orleans Saints in their wild card playoff matchup. They don’t want history repeating itself.
“We’ve played well for six weeks, and it’s hard to play well all year, but that’s our goal,” Goff said. “At some point, we’re gonna hit some sort of adversity and we’ll have to fight through that. Right now, we’re playing well, that’s four in a row for us. It’s a pretty good feeling.
“… We know who we are. I’ve said it a million times. We feel like we can go beat anyone right now. We feel pretty good.”
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