Immediately upon being asked last week, with knowledge it might not be consequential to clinching the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell made it clear how the team would approach Monday night's game against the San Francisco 49ers.
"I’ll make this easy for everybody, that way all the critics can jump out and start attacking. But that way you don’t have to debate them anymore," Campbell said. "We are bringing everything we’ve got into this game and we are playing, and I don’t care what it looks like and where it’s at. Or who’s this? Who’s that? We’re going out to win this game out on the west coast.”
Any way other than "we are bringing everything we've got into this game" would not have been a genuine sentiment from Campbell, and it surprised exactly no one who pays attention. The in-game circumstance could've changed things, but right or wrong the Lions entered the game intent on beating the 49ers and that's exactly what they did.
Dan Campbell has yet another perfect postgame speech after win vs. 49ers
Since the Lions have won 14 games this season, we've see Campbell's postgame locker room speeches a lot. But they are always appointment viewing, often high energy or occasionally more subdued.
After Monday night's win, Campbell again hit the perfect note in the locker room.
"I got an unbelievable amount of respect for you guys. I know what this was and there’s all these arguments about what did this game really mean. Because the next week I respect the (expletive) out of you guys,” Campbell said. “I respect the (expletive) out of how we roll the ball out and you guys just go out and compete. I can’t even put it into words, man. I cannot put it into words. I love the hell out of you guys. I love the hell out of you guys.
"Listen, we did some things. We got 14 wins. Alright, we already talked about once we got to where we were at, 13, that we franchise record. Fourteen’s a franchise record. 8-0 on the road, franchise record, alright? 8-0 the road, which tells you at its worst we can go anywhere and (expletive) win, gentlemen. That’s the bottom line.”
Campbell finished by highlighting the opportunity that's coming next week against the Minnesota Vikings.
"You can't ask for anything better — to be able to have the division and the 1 seed on the line, back at home," Campbell said. "Guys, this is what it's all about; this is why you're in this profession, man. This is as good as it gets. We’re so thankful for this opportunity. This can be unbelievable…appreciate you guys, man. It’s a hell of a job. It’s a hell of a ride and we got one more.”
Check out Campbell's postgame locker room speech: