ALLEN PARK — Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes are the toast of Detroit, and receiving due flowers from across the country after the Lions won their first playoff game since 1991. Now they have the hottest rebuild in the league, and a date with No. 4 Tampa or No. 5 Philadelphia in a divisional-round game at Ford Field next week.
That’s good stuff.
But three years ago, their hirings weren’t so popular.
You can understand some of the skepticism. The Lions have screwed up these kinds of things forever, then really screwed them up with Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn, before a new owner made out-of-the-box hires for new leadership in 2021. Campbell had never been a coordinator and did not interview for any other head-coaching positions, while Holmes was the Rams’ college scouting director whose only other GM interview was with the Atlanta Falcons.
Then Campbell stepped in front of a camera for a virtual introductory news conference, started talking about snacking on his opponents’ kneecaps, and the takes came pouring in. The national media was especially vicious, going so far as to call him a “meathead” and all sorts of colorful names.
Yes, he’s kept receipts.
“I have a ton of those,” Campbell said with a smile. “But it’s not time to pull those out yet. There will be a time and a place for that.”
Campbell made the comments on Monday afternoon, just hours after Detroit beat the Los Angeles Rams 24-23 in an unforgettable night at Ford Field. The crowd was chanting “JA-RED GOFF! JA-RED GOFF!” before the quarterback even made his way out of the tunnel, then Goff completed 15 of his first 16 passes while leading three straight touchdown drives to open the game. Detroit didn’t even face a third down on its first two drives, sending a frenzied crowd into delirium.
The defense kept L.A. out of the end zone in the second half, Goff put away the Rams for good with a pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown coming out of the 2-minute warning, and then the crowd roared so loud that Apple watches were warning reporters in the press box that the decibel level could damage their hearing.
Holmes’ guttural howls as he boarded an elevator to the basement didn’t help.
