The Lions have never been to a Super Bowl in their history, but head coach Dan Campbell is expecting that to change this season.
Campbell shared that view during an appearance on 97.1 The Ticket on Tuesday morning. Campbell was asked about not playing recently acquired edge rusher Za’Darius Smith against the Texans in Week 10 and Campbell said the team was taking a very long view of things when it comes to Smith.
“We got 11 games left here, and we’re going to need him for every one of those,” Campbell said. “And every time we get a little bit closer to the end, they get more critical.”
The Lions currently have the best record in the NFC at 8-1 and finishing the 17-game regular season with the No. 1 seed would leave them with a first-round bye and three possible postseason games. Campbell’s answer to the Smith question makes it clear he expects the team to hit all of those benchmarks and it’s hard to argue with any view that has them as the favorite to pull that off.
