The more the Detroit Lions get tested under fire, the more they seem determined to prove that their iron will won’t break under pressure.
The Lions broke out to a 21-0 lead in the first 8:15 of the game but had to fight back to emerge with a 33-28 victory over the New Orleans Saints Sunday.
The victory wasn’t clinched until quarterback Jared Goff completed two third-down passes in the Lions’ final possession.
Prior to that, the Lions broke up a fourth-down pass by the Saints with 2:56 left. That turned the ball over to the Lions’ offense, where Goff connected with rookie Sam LaPorta and Josh Reynolds to send the Lions home to Detroit with an important victory.
It made the Lions’ won-loss record 9-3 and gave them a three-game lead in the NFC North with five games left.
Head coach Dan Campbell did not downplay the value of the victory.
“It’s December,” Campbell said in his postgame interview on 97.1. “Every time we stack another one, it puts more pressure on everybody.”
This week’s Monday Countdown looks at how a veteran and a rookie handled the key pressure moments in the game.
There’s also takeaways on offense, defense and special teams, what’s trending and the bottom line.