Dan Campbell's win streak against below .500 teams will be put to the test on Sunday

As the old football adage goes, "Any given Sunday." Or "Any given Thursday" if you're the New York Giants after a stunning upset of the Philadelphia Eagles.

No matter what history, talent, or the betting lines say, any team can emerge victorious in any game. That's especially true in the early part of the season, where records can form mirages. Being a below .500 team right now doesn't necessarily mean that the team is bad. The now 4-1 Detroit Lions were, at one point this season, a below .500 team themselves, after all.

On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs will enter their primetime game against the Lions as a below .500 team. It's a rare position for the Chiefs to be in, and few would be shocked if they, once again, reach the AFC Championship game. Right now, however, it's desperate times as they hope to avoid falling into a 2-4 hole.

At this stage, no Lions fan should be worried about whether or not a Dan Campbell-coached team will take this game lightly. Lately, Campbell has had immense success against teams that enter a game below .500. It wasn't always that way.

In his career, Campbell has a 21-18 record against teams below .500. That may seem a little too close for some fans, but breaking it down, it starts to make sense. During his time as an interim head coach for the Miami Dolphins, Campbell posted a 3-5 record in such games. In games against above .500 teams, his Dolphins went 2-2.

The Campbell era in Detroit started much worse than his Dolphins' tenure. In 2021, Campbell went 1-7 against below .500 teams in part because his squad was below .500 themselves. That lone win was his very first with the Lions in a thrilling finish against the Minnesota Vikings. The Lions finished that season 3-13-1, with two of those wins and the tie coming against above .500 teams.

Campbell and the Lions have dominated below .500 teams in recent years

2022 was a turning point for both Campbell and the Lions. A 1-6 start led to calls for his firing, but owner Sheila Ford Hamp continued to put her faith in Campbell, and it paid off in droves. The Lions went on a run, finishing 9-8, and barely missing out on the playoffs. From 2022 onward, the Lions have the best regular-season record of any team. What do great teams do? Take care of business against the below .500 teams.

Since his disastrous first season with the Lions, Campbell has a 17-6 record against below .500 teams. Despite that 1-6 overall start, the 2022 Lions finished with a 4-3 record against such teams. 2023 was an improvement at 5-3.

Even though they were playing winning football, the Lions were still prone to frustrating losses. On December 10, 2023, the then 9-3 Lions fell 28-13 to the then 4-8 Chicago Bears. It was one of numerous late-season losses that ultimately cost the Lions the #1 seed and homefield advantage in the playoffs -- something that could've made the difference in their NFC Championship loss to the San Francisco 49ers. That game against the Bears was the most recent time Campbell's Lions lost to a below .500 team.

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Campbell is riding a nine-game win streak against below .500 teams. A streak that began with a Week 18 victory over the Vikings in 2023, and has continued on with a 6-0 run in 2024, and a 2-0 start in 2025.

A primetime tilt on the road against the legendary Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes tandem will be the toughest test yet for Campbell on this winning streak. A banged-up Lions secondary could make stops hard to come by, and the Chiefs' defense will be extra motivated after giving up an embarrassing game-winning touchdown to Trevor Lawrence and his Jacksonville Jaguars.

It's why the Chiefs are currently the betting favorites in this matchup and not the Lions. But just like the last time the Lions faced off against the Chiefs back in 2023, Campbell will have his players entering Arrowhead Stadium with an upset on their mind. Because he knows as well as anyone that in football, it's "any given Sunday."