Beating Packers at Lambeau? Dan Campbell’s Lions ‘Built For This’

The Green Bay Packers used to dominate the Detroit Lions, especially at home. Not anymore. Dan Campbell has turned the rivalry on its head by winning again at Lambeau Field.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (14) leaps into the seats following a victory over the Packers at Lambeau Field. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Playing on the “Frozen Tundra” of historic Lambeau Field, the Green Bay Packers are supposed to be impervious to the elements.

Playing indoors at Ford Field, the Detroit Lions are supposed to struggle with rain, cold and wind.

You never would have known it on Sunday. The Lions beat the Packers 24-10. The Packers handled the rain like a car with bald tires and worn-out windshield wipers. The Lions, who hadn’t played a single game outside all season, handled the weather like champions.

The Packers dropped six passes, botched three shotgun snaps and threw a pick-six. The Lions had no drops, no bad snaps, no fumbles, no turnovers, no … problems at all. It was like a day at the beach.

“That was big. We knew that coming in here,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “There were a number of things we talked about: run game supremacy, we talked about explosives. As crazy as that sounds in that type of weather, but whoever could come up with the most explosives, field position and turnover ratio [would win the game].

“The fact that we took care of the football, we preached it all week. We worked it. Wet-ball drills every day at practice outdoors. Our guys really did a great job. [Lions quarterback Jared] Goff took great care of the football, and it was the difference. It was a big difference.”

Wet-ball drills? Every day?

In 2020, rain was in the forecast for the Packers’ home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Before that game, LaFleur was asked if wet-ball drills were part of his practice plan. His reply?

“My personal opinion on a lot of those is it’s pretty gimmicky.”

The Packers practiced in the rain on Thursday. Maybe one of their corporate sponsors, Fleet Farm, could have brought some 5-gallon pals to fill with water for Friday’s practice.

The fact is, the Lions and Packers have followed the identity of their coaches.

LaFleur is the X’s and O’s monster. Campbell was a 10-year NFL tight end.

There’s nothing wrong with LaFleur’s background. He’s won a lot of games; his 56 wins in his first five seasons were second-most in NFL history, and his winning percentage entering Sunday was second-best among active coaches (minimum 50 games).

Campbell, on the other hand, personifies Detroit. He is grit and toughness, and his players follow his lead.

He has led a football revolution for what had been a downtrodden franchise. From 1992 through 2014, Detroit won exactly zero games played in the state of Wisconsin. Now, it’s won three in a row at Lambeau Field. They won in the rain on Sunday after winning in the cold in 2022.

“Anytime you win, you learn something from it and you get better at winning,” Campbell said. “The hard thing about winning is you learn those things (and) you have to continue to learn, but you can’t brush over the things you aren’t doing well.

“Just because you got a win, you have to make sure that we are identifying those things that we have to get cleaned up because we will get exposed. There are things, there is tape, there are things we have to clean up in a hurry across the board, and we will.”

Then came the money line.

“But I know this: I am not shocked one bit that we came over here and played pretty good football out in the elements. We are built for this, man, and it doesn’t matter just because we play indoors. It doesn’t matter. We can play anywhere. We can play in the snow. We can play in the rain. Play in the mud. That is just us and we are built to win, man.”

The Lions are built to dominate, whether it’s a dome or a parking lot. They play like the Packers used to play. Like they are supposed to play.

Lambeau Field used to be a fortress. Under Mike Holmgren, the Packers won 25 consecutive home games. The worse the weather, the better the Packers used to play. The colder the better. The wetter the better.

Is it “gimmicky” to drown some footballs in buckets before individual drills? Yeah, maybe. But one team handled the elements on Sunday, and it sure as hell wasn’t the Packers, who have a bad habit of losing big games at Lambeau.

What a slap in the face to hear “Jared Goff” chants ring through the stadium and Lions players taking Lambeau Leaps to celebrate their victory.

“There’s a lot of things we’ve got to clean up,” Love said. “The fumbled snaps, it comes down to the ball being wet, rainy, and we’ve got to do a better job of the exchange between me and Elgton (Jenkins). It happened one too many times, for sure. And then the drops, it comes down to making plays when conditions aren’t perfect. Obviously, it was wet and too many drops.”

That’s just excuse-making, though. Why didn’t the Lions struggle in those conditions?

“It just comes down to making plays,” Love responded.

The Lions made those plays, with Goff becoming the first quarterback to win three consecutive starts at Lambeau.

“We’re supposed to be the dome team who can’t play outside,” Goff said. “Were supposed to be the team that can only win one way. I think we’ve shown a handful of times that we can win in multiple ways. We’re chameleons and whatever it takes to win and whatever way, that’s what we’re going to do.”

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The weekly #Packers report card by the esteemed and tenure-trackled Professor @JacobWestendorf is about what you'd expect from the loss to the Lions. ⬇️https://t.co/NnrG9iDykA

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) November 4, 2024

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