“Holy crap, guys” were the first three words Dan Campbell said when speaking to his locker room after Sunday’s game.
Those three words also accurately described the feeling of Detroit Lions fans inside Ford Field as they watched their team pull out a 34-27 comeback victory over the New York Giants in an overtime thriller.
The Lions trailed for most of the game in a contest where they struggled to get anything going on either side of the ball until the late-game heroics from one of their offensive playmakers.
As Campbell addressed his locker room, he praised his players for their effort and how they fought throughout the entire game. At the same time, with the Lions on a short week and suiting up again Thursday for the annual Thanksgiving Day game, he stressed the urgency of what lies ahead.
“That’s a heck of a win, man,” Campbell started. “Listen, you don’t know exactly how the game’s going to go, and you guys just kept swatting it back, man, buying your time, and we made the stop we needed to. Hutch, great (expletive) job there at the end. (That) was unbelievable. Our offense, when we needed it, (Jake) Bates — all of that. We’ll get to this here in a minute. But I’m telling you, man, you don’t know how to ride it. You don’t know what’s going to happen. You just find a way to win, okay? You find a way to win.
“The big thing this week is going to be Green Bay, right? We got about three days off here — not three days off, but three days to get ready for, alright? And then we go 2-0. We go 2-0. All right. We just won one — one of three, basically, at home. That’s a way to just hang in there, man, and find a way. We got to clean some up too along the way while we get ready for Green Bay.”
From there, Campbell handed out three game balls, with the first going to Aidan Hutchinson, who finished with six tackles, six quarterback hits, two tackles for loss and a game-winning sack.
“I appreciate you fellas. This next stretch, man — this is step one,” Hutchinson said. “Got to keep going. We got bigger goals than this, and we all know that.”
The second game ball went to punter Jack Fox, who had five punts for 200 yards, four of which pinned the Giants inside their own 20-yard line, with several landing inside the 10.
“Hey, shoutout to everybody on the punt team,” Fox said. “It takes everybody to play on punt and to do our job, so thank you guys.”
And in the least surprising game ball of all, the final one went to Jahmyr Gibbs, who had 15 carries for 219 yards and two touchdowns, along with 11 catches for 45 yards and another score, totaling 264 yards from scrimmage.
“Let’s keep rolling. Love you guys,” Gibbs briefly said.
Campbell ended with one final message before Lions quarterback Jared Goff broke the team huddle.
“All right, man. That’s one. Let’s get ready, man. Get your bodies back ready to go this week,” Campbell said. “It’s going to be mental, man. It’s mental, and it’s all about recovery. Proud of you guys. That’s a way to hang in there and get this win.”
Here is the postgame video speech:
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.