Over 65,000 fans will be in attendance for Sunday’s divisional matchup between the first place Minnesota Vikings and the surging Detroit Lions. It will be the most important game Detroit has played since Jim Caldwell’s final season with the Lions, a season where the Lions just missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record.
We’re all well aware of how things played out in the aftermath of the Caldwell era. Matt Patricia’s arrival in 2018 coincided with some of the most meaningless, unwatchable football Lions fans had seen—and that’s really saying something.
A learning season where growth was evident defined Dan Campbell’s first season in Detroit, and his encore is proving to be a reward for those patient enough to stomach the lumps a rebuild presents.