Dan Campbell is well aware of the situation his Detroit Lions find themselves in as they return to Ford Field for a crucial three-game stand.
Sitting at 6–4, Detroit occupies third place in the NFC North and is just outside the playoff picture in the conference standings. Ahead lies a 17-day gauntlet against the Giants, Packers, and Cowboys — a stretch that could determine whether their postseason aspirations remain alive. With time running out, stacking wins is becoming less of a preference and more of a necessity.
But Campbell refuses to view any matchup as a do-or-die scenario. Instead, he’s drilling into his team the importance of narrowing their focus to the immediate opponent rather than the long-term stakes.
“We’re getting squeezed a bit by this stretch, but that doesn’t matter,” Campbell said of the short turnaround between games. “Everyone’s dealing with the same calendar. Green Bay is on a shortened week, and Dallas is just seven days after that. What matters is staying locked in on what’s right in front of us. We need to get back on track and play better across the board. That’s the mission — beat the Giants. Nothing else.”
Campbell made it clear he doesn’t want players distracted by playoff projections or division races.
“Forget the NFC, forget the North, forget the rankings,” he said. “We need a win. Everything goes into preparing for New York, and once that’s done, then we’ll move on to the next one.”
Detroit’s season has swung in streaks. After dropping their opener against Green Bay, the Lions ripped off four straight wins — a run halted by Kansas City in Week 6. Since then, they’ve alternated victories and losses, a pattern that has kept them from gaining traction in an increasingly competitive NFC playoff race.
If they continue this win-one, lose-one rhythm the rest of the way, they would finish 10-7 — a record that may not be enough to secure a playoff berth, especially with upcoming battles against Matthew Stafford and the Rams as well as the Steelers.
Asked when the team might begin feeling heightened pressure, Campbell insisted the urgency has never left the building.
“We always operate with urgency,” he said. “Of course we’d love to be undefeated, but that’s not reality. Pushing for ‘more urgency’ is where things go off the rails — that’s when players press, panic, and step outside the game plan. That’s when you start hurting the team instead of helping it.”
Campbell believes leaning into panic would signal a lack of trust in their identity and preparation.
“When you’re grabbing at anything you can, that’s when bad things happen,” he said. “I know what this team is capable of. We clean up the details, make the necessary adjustments, and keep moving forward. That’s how we get this thing where it needs to be.”
