DETROIT — After a 1-5 start to the 2022 season for the Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier briefly chatted with Lions GM Brad Holmes ahead of their Week 8 game at Ford Field.
“Stay with it man. You guys are so close,” Grier told Holmes. “You and Dan [Campbell] are doing things the right way.”
Miami would overcome a double-digit, first-half deficit to escape with a 31-27 win, handing the Lions their fifth consecutive loss. But Campbell, Detroit’s head coach, knew he needed to shake things up.
In the wake of defeat, he made the difficult decision to fire former defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant. The Lions also traded 2020 Pro Bowl tight end T.J. Hockenson to the Minnesota Vikings.
Since then, the Lions have won 11 straight games following a loss, which is the longest active streak in the NFL and the longest streak in franchise history, per ESPN Research.
“We ended up winning a shootout against them that day and then after that they ended up going on a little roll and it’s turned into the last couple years for them,” Grier told ESPN. “I’m so happy for [Holmes] and what he’s accomplished.”
The Lions’ streak started in Week 9 of the 2022 season against the Green Bay Packers. Detroit has been the best team in the NFL following a loss ever since.
Fast-forward to 2025, Lions players were once again angry after starting 0-1 with a 27-13 loss in Green Bay. They responded with a 52-21 victory at home against the Chicago Bears and will look to build on that at Baltimore on Monday night (8:15 p.m. ET on ABC, ESPN).
“I just think you’re motivated to get that taste out of your mouth. You don’t ever want to lose focus or not play your best game, but sometimes it happens for certain reasons,” Campbell said, “or you may play a great game and at the wrong time you turn the ball over two or three times.
“No matter what it is I think it just … it refocuses you,” he said. “There’s a sense of urgency that to just, ‘Man, let’s go back to what we do. Let’s clean this up and let’s go get a win.’ Because nobody likes it. We take it personal and that’s big.”
For Lions quarterback Jared Goff, playing on a team that rarely loses twice in a row stems from their preparation and wanting to respond after defeat.
Since Week 9 of 2022, Detroit has scored the most points per game (32.1) while allowing their opponents to score just 15.4 points, which both rank first in the NFL over that span.
“I can only speak for my experience here but the want to respond, the want to right a wrong and fix things and do it better in practice, and the urgency to improve,” Goff said following the Bears’ win on Sunday. “I think that Dan is always talking about, certainly early on in the year, it’s just how can we get better every week. And sure, we lost the first week, but we got better this week. We did.
“We got better in practice, we worked on certain things, and we got better.”
Against Chicago, Detroit was able to set a franchise record by averaging 8.8 yards per play on offense.
0:30
MNF Trailer: Lions vs. Ravens
Get ready for “Monday Night Football” in Week 3, when the Lions travel to take on the Ravens.
Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown now leads NFL with 443 receptions since entering the league in 2021, but he doesn’t feel like the team made a statement in their Week 2 win at home. Their attention is set on winning again at Baltimore on Monday so they won’t have to worry about responding to another loss anytime soon.
“I feel like it’s only Week 2, it’s early. I feel like we were a lot better than we were last week from everything. From the explosive plays, to the communication, to the details, the execution, to taking care of the football,” St. Brown said. “Just the whole top to bottom. I feel like there were a few drives that we kind of stalled out.
“I think we had a few three-and-outs that after our defense gets a turnover or something, that’s the last thing you want to do. So, those are things I feel like we need to get better on. But, anytime you put up 50 in this league is tough against any opponent.”
