The Lions are making huge sacrifices right now, and it's the best thing they can do

Man, this game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night is going to be an interesting one for the Detroit Lions after head coach Dan Campbell dropped some injury news on Friday. Both star safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph, along with Avonte Maddox and left tackle Taylor Decker, are all game-time decisions to play. None of them has a season-ending injury or an injury strong enough to put them on IR, so your mind goes to "why not just play them? We have to win."

That might have been the thought process last year, but two recent comments from Campbell kind of show that the Lions are looking at injuries a lot differently this year, and it might be all about sacrifice.

It feels like the Lions are sacrificing possible losses now to make sure they can be fully healthy and win later

The first comment goes back to last Sunday after the win over the Bengals. I asked Campbell if there was a possibility the Lions may look to continue to rest Decker and go with Manu or someone different. The big part of his answer was "I don't want to put Decker out there if it means that we get him a couple of games and then he's out for the rest of the year. It makes no sense."

Think about last season. A lot of guys played hurt at all times of the season. It's a fairly normal practice around the league because everyone wants to win, and the feeling is that every game is important. There's some danger to that, though. Specifically, the possibility that you reaggravate an injury or make it worse. Then you lose a player for the rest of the year because you were trying to win a game that maybe wasn't that important.

All games are important when it comes down to tie breakers and all that, but what if you're a team that has won your division multiple times and you've done the whole first seed thing, and now the thing you really want is a Super Bowl? That got me thinking about this comment from Campbell:

“One of the things, when I look back (to last year), I think the emphasis needs to stay on winning the division and playing a hell of a lot better Week 17 than you do in Week 1,” Campbell said. “If we’ll just focus on that, no matter whether it is at home or it’s on the road or whatever, then we’ll be battle-tested and ready to go."

When you read that, you see a guy who's thinking about getting the adversity out of the way early so you can be a better team later when it really counts. That's why saying let's sit all these guys against the Chiefs on Sunday, and maybe losing the game doesn't feel as bad when you look at it that way. Of course, you want both, but if forced to choose, would you rather be in the driver's seat in October or December? This team is good, and they can get past the adversity. They've largely proven that when possible.

That doesn't mean the Lions just have to go lose. They still have a high-powered offense without Decker. They just need to make some adjustments on that side of the line. They can run the ball and control the clock. This doesn't have to be a loss. They still have a killer linebacker corps, and their defensive line is one of the best in the league right now. If you have to sacrifice some explosives, so be it. If they have to lose, that sucks, but so be it. The end of the year is where you want this team to be fully healthy and ready to accomplish the big goal. To do that, you might have to sit some guys down now.