Taylor Decker Reveals Two Games That Defined Lions Turnaround

Lions Taylor Decker is happy he played in Detroit entire career.

Detroit Lions left tackle Taylor Decker is happy he stayed with the organization, even when there were some pretty lean years. 

Decker heard the loud critics of the team and took offense to those that suggested he be traded a couple of years ago. 

But remaining patient and having faith the new regime would eventually turn things around paid huge dividends for the veterans who remained on the team. 

Now 60 minutes away from appearing in the Super Bowl, Decker reflected on when he started to sense the team was headed in a much different direction. 

"There's two games last year. Probably the Minnesota game that we lost on the road and then the Thanksgiving game. We lost those games, but it didn't feel like it used to feel. It felt different," said Decker. "Can I verbalize or put into words what exactly it was? Not really. But you just you have that feeling in the in the locker room. And it just didn't feel that way. It just felt different. Like we were making strides in getting small, you know, victories. 

"Even though we didn't win the game, we were just moving in the right direction. And then through the end of last year, we were obviously able to finish out really well." 

Starting this season, there were changes with the coaching staff and upgrades to the offense, but the level of hunger only steadily increased, as the team finally learned at the end of last year how to close out games and what it actually takes to become a consistent winner. 

"Then that goes into the next season where you have all these expectations, but the team is different," Decker explained. "While the course still may be here, there's going to be some coaches that are different. There's going to be players, there's going to be the draft and all those expectations are all for naught, if you don't deliver when you play. Nobody ever beat anybody because of what a sheet of paper said. So, ultimately we just had to keep that hunger and kind of just move forward week in and week out and try and continue to grow and continue to get better." 

Against a 49ers team that is considered the favorite, Decker and the young roster are aware of the challenges, but feel playing on the road also has some benefits. 

“Well, first I would say that the seeds say we’re an underdog, but we don’t feel that way. We’re in this game because we earned our way into this game. We had to win our division to get a home playoff game and then we had to win two to get to this point," Decker told Glover Quin on the latest Bleav in Lions pocast. "That being said, they are a fantastic opponent and every round that we get to play in, the level of difficulty is gonna go up."

Lions vs 49ers Preview with Taylor Decker https://t.co/y8jlXiooLZ

— Bleav In Lions (@BleavInLions) January 23, 2024

Playing on the road may force the team to focus just a little more and play looser, as the pressure is going to be on the 49ers to not lose again at home with so much at stake.

"We are gonna have to be super dialed into the details of verbal and non-verbal communication, probably a lot more non-verbal than verbal. I think, ultimately, there’s something cool about going on the road and it’s us versus all of them. It’s kind of like that gladiator mentality, like Maximus," Decker said. "You’re going in there and it’s hostile and that’s fun. And you can kind of feed off that, even as a visiting team. You can kind of feed off that hostile energy but ultimately, we’re gonna have to be on those details, especially early. The margin for error is gonna be slim. We need everybody to do their absolute best of what they’re capable of and do their job.”