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Eric Woodyard, ESPN
INDIANAPOLIS — Ninety years ago, former NFL owner George A. Richards purchased the Portsmouth Spartans, moving the franchise to Detroit as the Lions and they would get off to a sweltering 10-1 start in that first season.
On the road Sunday at Indianapolis, coach Dan Campbell helped the team hit a feat that hasn’t happened since 1934, a 10-1 start after beating the Colts 24-6, but he wasn’t too caught up in the moment.
“We’re so locked in on the here and now that it’s hard,” Campbell said. “It’s a little bit like last year — you get through it and maybe you can take a breath to turn around and look behind you and see what you did, but right now, we’re just going. We’re rolling.”
Campbell acknowledged history but was more impressed with his team’s unbeaten road streak. The Lions are the NFL’s last undefeated road team (6-0) this season, which is a testament to the franchise’s turnaround since Campbell’s arrival in 2021.
The Lions finished 3-13-1 in 2021, then improved to 9-8 in 2022 before finishing 12-5 last season with an NFC Championship Game appearance.
Following Sunday’s win, the Lions are officially the first NFC team to reach 10 wins this season, the first time the franchise has accomplished that.
“It gave me a flashback to 2022 and at that point we were 0-11-1 on the road. And just thinking about that and now I think we’re 16-5 since then and just that group of guys,” Campbell said. “I said something in the locker room about it. I’m looking at Frank [Ragnow] and [Jared] Goff and Deck [Taylor Decker] and [Penei] Sewell, Alim [McNeill] and Saint [Amon-Ra St. Brown], and it’s like, ‘Man, you remember that?’
“But all of those guys are responsible for the flip,” he said. “It says a lot. If you can win on the road, you’re normally a pretty good damn team and we can win on the road.”
The Lions also captured their ninth consecutive victory of the regular season with the win. The only other time they’ve had a nine-game win streak was also in 1934, when they won 10 in a row, per ESPN Research.
“We are road warriors. We love it,” said Lions quarterback Goff, who finished 26-for-36 with 269 passing yards. “We come together on the road, and we have an us-against-the-world mentality and it’s fun when we can get our own fans here. The way they show out, it’s really unbelievable. They do a hell of a job.”
While the offense has dominated headlines, the defense has also shined under defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. Detroit hasn’t allowed a touchdown in 10 straight quarters as the defenders continue to hold each other accountable in moments of victory and defeat.
For the third game this season, Detroit’s defense allowed fewer than 10 points, which is the most in a Lions season since 1983.
“We expect to win,” Lions nose tackle DJ Reader said. “It’s not a feeling where you walk in and you’re guessing whether it’s going to happen. Guys expect excellence out of themselves and others on our team, so I think that’s the best part. Even though you see the score today, we’re still out there on each other.”
The Lions will shift their focus to the annual Thanksgiving game Thursday, which they haven’t won since 2016. Detroit will host the Chicago Bears, a division rival, with the team looking to reach new heights in pursuit of a championship.
“We’ve got a group of selfless humans,” said Lions running back David Montgomery, who scored a second-quarter rushing touchdown. “I call this place ‘The Land of Misfit Toys.’ You got to a place where people say that you’re not good enough or this team is not supposed to be exactly who we are, and we’re not proving anybody wrong, but we in the mix to try to prove ourselves right. So, I think that’s big.”
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