The Detroit Lions will head to Lambeau Field for Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers with a 6-1 record and a five-game-winning streak. Lions-Packers has become a legit rivalry again in recent years, in line with the Lions getting good. The Lions have also won four of the last five matchups.
Two of the Lions' last three wins during their winning streak have been in blowout fashion, one surprising (47-9 over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6) and one not (52-14 over the Tennessee Titans in Week 8). Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson dug deep into his bag of trick plays against Dallas, drawing the ire of a notable Cowboys fan who criticized Dan Campbell afterward.
The Lions didn't do as many trick plays against the Titans, with running back David Montgomery's touchdown pass to Sam LaPorta the only one.
The Packers clearly don't want the Lions to come to their house and leave with a victory on Sunday, let alone a decisive victory. Players certainly noticed what the Lions did to the Cowboys and the Titans, and safety Xavier McKinney spoke about that on Thursday.
Xavier McKinney decides to poke the bear and call out the Lions
'In my opinion, I think they try to embarrass people,” McKinney said. “And I think this organization and the players we have in here, they don’t really take that lightly. We know that’s what they’re going to come here and try to do."
"Me, personally, I’m not a big fan of that, trying embarrass someone," McKinney said. "I don’t really respect that. It is what it is.”
Xavier McKinney on the #Packers matchup against the Lions & all the tricks they like to do:
— John Miller (@JohnMillerNBC26) October 31, 2024
"They like to embarrass people. I think this organization & the players we have in here, they don't really take that lightly & we know that's what they going to come here and try to do." pic.twitter.com/6YwDp2JUOQ
As you can hear in the above video if you listen closely to right after the end of the quote cited, a player identified as cornerback Keisean Nixon had a supplementary comment to what McKinney was saying.
#Packers safety Xavier McKinney on the #Lions offense: “In my opinion, I think they try to embarrass people. This organization and players we have here — they don’t take that lightly.”
— Kyle Malzhan (@KyleMalzhan) October 31, 2024
Keisean Nixon then yells from a few lockers down: “We ain’t going for that shit.”
The Lions pulled their starters for the fourth quarter of both of their recent blowout wins. Otherwise, both games could have even more one-sided. But let's not let some good bulletin board material calling out the Lions for "embarrassing" opponents get bogged down with facts.
McKinney's comments of course landed on the radar of sports talk radio in Detroit.
Packers safety Xavier McKinney: Detroit tries to embarrass teams.
— 97.1 The Ticket: (@971theticketxyt) November 1, 2024
"The plan is to try to score. And if it happens to embarrass you on the way, so be it. But that would be on you, not on the Lions."
"You’re the defense. Your job is to stop it."
🔊🔊: https://t.co/50UQH6BV57 pic.twitter.com/cJRFfTL1BG
There's definitely an "if you don't like it, stop it" element to the idea the Lions are trying to embarrass opponents. The Cowboys and Titans rolled over in a way the Packers surely won't, but McKinney may regret poking the bear (or the Lion, as it were).