GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium played host to a huge upset to begin the 2023 NFL season. The Detroit Lions stormed into Kansas City and knocked off the Super Bowl champion Chiefs 21-20, an instantly-memorable contest for a fanbase that isn’t used to seeing its favorite team come up big in big moments.
However, one of the newest Lions wants everyone to know that this is no fluke — change is coming to Detroit, and the NFL had better be ready.
“This s**t is the real thing”
In an Instagram Live video recorded in the visiting locker room, Lions safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson — who played for the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles last year — repeatedly said that this isn’t the same Lions team that has long been an NFL doormat.
“It ain’t the same Detroit. … This is the real thing, this s**t (is) the real thing,” Gardner-Johnson yelled.
The Lions last won their division in 1993, and their last playoff win came in 1991. The franchise has never played in a Super Bowl despite entering the NFL in 1930, and Detroit has the seventh-worst winning percentage in league history. But the tide might just be turning after the Lions ended the 2022 season with five wins from their final six games, which were enough to clinch a winning record for the first time since 2017.
Victory is “verification” for coach Campbell
Head coach Dan Campbell has been central to Detroit‘s turnaround — and he might be the least surprised of all after he watched his Lions rally from a 14-7 halftime deficit to knock off the champs.
Campbell has earned a reputation as a plain-spoken, aggressive coach, willing to keep his offense on the field on fourth down — like he did in the first quarter on Thursday, faking a punt from within Kansas City territory to move the chains. That infectious attitude has permeated through to his players, who are trying to change the culture of losing in Detroit into one of success and eventual contention.
The win over the Chiefs shows they’re on the right track.
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
Marca
