Why Lions have 'added motivation' for Week 10 game at Commanders

The Detroit Lions (5-3) are heavy betting favorites heading into this Sunday's game at the Washington Commanders (3-6) after Washington's starting quarterback, Jayden Daniels, went down with a gruesome dislocated left elbow in Week 9. 

Nevertheless, Lions quarterback Jared Goff made it clear while speaking with reporters on Wednesday that he wants to earn some revenge against the club that bounced Detroit from the playoffs this past January. 

Lions using playoff loss to Commanders as bulletin-board material

"That's definitely a part of it, absolutely," Goff said about the revenge spot, per Eric Woodyard of ESPN. "I think more than that, we want to get off of a losing streak here and get a W. Certainly, you're thinking about that, but I think it's nine games ago now. So yeah, we're trying to get a win this year and maybe use that as a little added motivation if we need it."

The StatMuse website shows that no team has notched more regular-season wins since Week 1 of the 2023 campaign than the Lions (32). Detroit entered the postseason matchup versus Washington at 15-2, but a significant injury crisis ultimately resulted in the Lions suffering a brutal 45-31 divisional-round defeat that squashed their Super Bowl dreams. More recently, the Lions have dropped two of their past three games. The Minnesota Vikings earned a 27-24 win at Detroit's Ford Field on Nov. 2. 

Aidan Hutchinson remaining focused on task at hand after missing playoff loss vs. Commanders

Lions star pass-rusher Aidan Hutchinson missed the playoff loss to the Commanders after he suffered fractures of his tibia and fibula in October 2024. On Wednesday, he shared the message that head coach Dan Campbell has given the locker room about the postseason rematch. 

"You know Dan is using it for motivation, and it's what we're looking at it, but, again, this is a new year, and we understand that task at hand, so we're just going to prepare the best we can and give it everything we've got," Hutchinson explained.

As of Thursday morning, ESPN BET had the Lions as 8.5-point road favorites for this Sunday's contest. On Wednesday, Campbell suggested his players won't be overlooking a Washington team that will be without Daniels for the foreseeable future. 

"I just want to see us play our brand of football for 60 minutes, our style," Campbell added. "I want to see us line up, I want to see the urgency, the intensity, I want to see the focus, I want to see the finish on the football -- offense, defense. I want to see our playmakers making plays within the scheme, within the system. I want to see our coaches coaching at a high level. I want us playing, coaching on a championship level. And more importantly, I want to play a hell of a lot better than we did last week."