Lions HC Seemingly Admits Anxiety of Facing Broncos HC Sean Payton
Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton has a long history with Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell. Payton was the New York Giants' QBs coach, and later offensive coordinator, when Campbell — a tight end — was drafted by the team in the third round back in 1999.
As a player, Campbell followed Payton along his coaching trail through three NFL stops, including one last go-round with the New Orleans Saints, the year they won it all. Although Campbell suffered a career-ending injury in training camp, Payton still made sure he got a Super Bowl XLIV ring.
Following his playing career, the fiery Campbell entered the NFL coaching ranks as an intern with the Miami Dolphins. Payton hired him as tight ends coach and assistant head coach in New Orleans, where he served for five years. That was the job that springboarded Campbell into the NFL's head-coaching ranks, helping him land the job in Detroit.
With the Broncos set to travel to take on the Lions at Ford Field this coming Saturday, the mentor-versus-pupil storylines are rich. Campbell explained what it means to face Payton as an opponent this week, perhaps even expressing a little anxiety about the intentions of Denver's head coach.
"It means we better be on our stuff because he's going to come here and try to embarrass us," Campbell said on Tuesday. "That's what it means. So that's our motivation—that's my motivation. And it's about winning, man. All we've got to do is find a way to win. We're going to have to be at our best, and we will be at our best."
Payton calls Campbell a "close friend," but among the brotherhood of NFL coaches, the level of competitiveness is exceedingly high. It's off the charts.
It's possible Campbell is being hyperbolic, hoping to energize his troops for Payton and the Broncos. But it's also entirely plausible that Payton is indeed looking to send a message to his former 'grasshopper.'
“He’s a close friend, a fantastic coach, and someone I’ve always enjoyed working with," Payton said of Campbell on Monday. "At 1-5, we just pointed to a similar situation a year ago. In other words, [they were] a team who was 1-6 and was able to flip the script. That was really it.”
Payton used Campbell's 2022 Lions squad as an example of how a slow-starting team's fortunes can change. Detroit began last season 1-6 before winning eight of its final 10 games, and finishing 9-8. Campbell narrowly missed the playoffs.
The 2023 Broncos started 1-5 under Payton, but have since won six of their last seven games. Denver is now not only in the fight for an AFC Wildcard spot, but amid the Kansas City Chiefs' recent slump, the division crown is now on the table.
At 7-6, the Broncos are one game back from the 8-5 Chiefs in the AFC West. However, as it stands currently, the Chiefs have the better divisional record, which gives them the tie-breaker for the division.
So really, the Broncos are two games back in the division with four to go. The Broncos have to keep winning while hoping the Chiefs drop two more, as unlikely as that may be upon perusing their final four opponents.
The Broncos also have a good shot in the Wildcard race, although if the playoffs started tomorrow, they'd be on the outside looking in. It's possible that 1-5 start was too big a hole to overcome relative to making the playoffs, but it's still inexplicably on the table.
Payton may have used Campbell's 2022 squad as inspiration internally to keep his team's eye on the prize. The resilience of Campbell's Lions owes much to his own gritty, let's-bite-some-kneecaps attitude, but also to what was instilled in him by his long-time mentor, Payton.
The Lions have hit a mini-slump of their own. After starting this season 8-2, Detroit has lost two of its last three, including an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the lowly 5-8 Chicago Bears last week.
"You just keep putting in the work. You don't overreact to what it may appear to be. You just go by the facts," Campbell said of a slumping team. "What is the issue? What is the problem? Is it turnovers? Is it the fundamentals? Is it your first step? Are we not getting on the ball fast enough? And when you go back and look at anything that's hurt us, it's our own issues. And it's the little things that come from day one."
Campbell learned long ago that the teams that master the nuances and the "little, little things" are the ones that consistently win. This was a clear hallmark of Payton's teams in New Orleans all those years.
"Honestly, the teams that are winning and consistently win are the ones that do the little, little things right," Campbell said. "The fundamentals, they take care of the football, they get takeaways, and those are the most consistent teams... Playing clean football. And it really is as simple as that. Doesn't mean it's easy, but it is that simple, and it's all in our hands. It's all in our control and that's the great thing about it."
Broncos-Lions is poised to be appointment television, as evidenced by the NFL's decision to flex the primetime game from Sunday to Saturday night at 6:15 pm MDT on NFL Network.
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