Dan Campbell leaves analyst stunned after Ravens win, ‘I can’t get over…’

Lions’ HC Dan Campbell praised for conviction in stunning road win over the Ravens

Dan Campbell had a lot of doubters going into the 2025 NFL season. He’d lost his two coordinators, both Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, to head coaching jobs, and many believed the Lions would regress without them.

Campbell promoted linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard to defensive coordinator, who had worked within Aaron Glenn’s system for the last three seasons.

He then recruited a familiar face in John Morton, who had been an offensive assistant in Detroit before taking the pass game coordinator job with the Denver Broncos for the last two seasons. Morton replaced Ben Johnson as the offensive coordinator, with a tough act to follow.

When the Lions struggled in Week 1 on the road against the Green Bay Packers, Campbell and his new coordinators were immediately under fire. The online criticism started, suggesting Campbell would be exposed without the genius he had in recent years on both sides of the ball.

Since losing that game, the way the Lions have bounced back is a testament to who Dan Campbell really is. His team is never going to lay down or quit, and he has complete buy-in from every single individual in the locker room.

Campbell’s team responded by hanging 52 points on Ben Johnson’s Chicago Bears in the first home game of the season, and just followed that with an incredible display on prime time.

The Lions came to play, with a game plan that limited Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens’ dual-threat ability on offense, while exploiting their weaknesses on defense. They won 38-30 on the road and became perhaps the most convincing 2-1 team in the NFL in the process.

Jordan Schultz took to X after the game and said:

“I can’t get over how impressive Dan Campbell was tonight. It’s one thing to have conviction, but it’s another to perpetually trust your players and always maintain your identity — especially against a team as good as the Ravens. The #Lions are a bona fide Super Bowl contender.”

The Lions were aggressive from the moment the game started, going for it on fourth down in the red zone to keep their opening drive alive. Jahmyr Gibbs converted that push into a touchdown.

With the game tied at 21 apiece in the fourth quarter, Campbell and the Lions called their shot again, this time on a 4th and 1 from inside the five-yard line. They drew up a trick play, pitching the football from Amon-Ra St. Brown to Gibbs, and took a 28-21 lead.

They were 3-for-3 on fourth down conversions on the night, all of which were crucial to the final score.

The defense was equally impressive. Stopping Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry is nearly impossible, but the Lions limited the Ravens to just 85 total rushing yards on the night.

That allowed them to control the tempo of the game and they hung 224 rushing yards of their own on the Ravens’ defense.

Aidan Hutchinson’s forced fumble on Henry late in the game helped the Lions pull away, sealing the win on the road.

It was an all-around stellar performance from the entire organization, proving that they are very much still contenders in 2025, despite any public perception going into the season.

Lions now tied for NFC North lead with home game against Browns up next

The Cleveland Browns shook up the NFC North this week by beating the Green Bay Packers in a low-scoring battle. The Packers were considered one of the most untouchable teams in football going into the weekend, but the Browns shut them down and stole a win in the dying moments.

The Lions will now face that Browns team at home in Week 4, and will have to find a way to beat a team that just plugged the run game against Matt LaFleur’s offense.

Detroit will then head to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals before traveling to Arrowhead Stadium for a must-watch game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football.