There's obviously still some work to be done, and some help will surely be needed in the coming weeks, but the Detroit Lions took their playoff chances off the proverbial ropes with a 44-30 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 14.
Missing the playoffs, if it happens, would be an obvious disappointment for the 2025 Lions. But it would likely end up being by a narrow margin, with a regrettable loss or two tilting things negatively. Making the postseason but being one-and-done in a second straight year would also be less than ideal.
But it's clear head coach Dan Campbell has the full backing of his players, and everyone in the Lions' organization. The team's resiliency to consistently follow losses with wins, and keep losing streaks from happening, is a testament to the tone Campbell sets.
Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report recently did a "hot seat check" for every NFL head coach, on a scale from "ice cold" to "burning hot", with multiple categories in-between.
In Gagnon's "room temperature" category, between "cool" and "warm" of course, was Campbell.
"The extremely talented Lions still have just two playoff wins in the Campbell era, and they're shockingly out of the playoff picture right now (entering Week 14). Another disappointing end result could put him in a precarious position come January."
Dan Campbell is nowhere close to even a warm seat in Detroit
It seems like longer ago, but a 1-6 start to the 2022 season for the Lions invited very early (but reasonable) questions about Campbell's job security almost halfway into his second season. Then came eight wins in the last 10 games of that season, followed by the franchise's first division title in over 30 years in 2023. Then a second straight division title last year, with a single-season franchise record 15 wins.
One season that finishes below that new, division-winning standard, if it happens, will not push any serious questions about Campbell's job security. He is believed to have two years left on his contract, via an extension in 2024 that was added to his original six-year deal.
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A disappointing end result for the Lions this season, on top of last year's one-and-done in the playoffs as the No. 1 seed, would be just that--disappointing. But Campbell would not be in any kind of "precarious position".
It might be easy to instigate questions about Campbell's job security if the Lions fall short their new bar of expectations for a second straight season. But any legit questions on that front seem to be a long way off, if they ever truly come.