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The Detroit Lions have fully embraced the villain plot for the 2023 season. After being touted as a playoff team for most of the offseason, they started the regular season with a surprising upset over the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL Kickoff Game to announce themselves to the world.
One of the aspects of being the villain involved Lions safety C. J. Gardner-Johnson asking for Detroit fans to go into Ford Field wearing blue masks to embrace their new identity. However, what he didn't expect is that the Seattle Seahawks would use masks of their own to spoil their party, with courtesy of safety Jerrick Reed II:
The Seattle Seahawks won the game in the closest way possible, as both teams traded jabs through four quarters but the first possession was key in overtime. The 37-31 scoreline was a good reflection of how the two teams pushed each other the hardest, but ultimately, the Detroit Lions lost their home opener.
Why are the Detroit Lions a good team now?
There's a lot to like about this new version, and it all started in 2021 when they hired Dan Campbell as their head coach.
The rebuild job he has orchestrated alongside Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes has been impressive, and the win against the Kansas City Chiefs on the season's kickoff was the icing on the cake.
While the upset shocked the NFL world in the first game of the 2023 season, Dan Campbell wasn't too happy about it. The Lions head coach wanted the world to know that this wasn't a surprise: he knew this was coming, and the result was just a verification of the excellent work put in the offseason by his players.
"I didn't learn anything. I got verification on what I already knew."
Dan Campbell has created an impressive team out of a mess, and the Detroit Lions have a great opportunity to win their division for the first time in 30 years. Even though they lost to the Seattle Seahawks, they continued to show a great level of play just as they did in the NFL kickoff against the Kansas City Chiefs.
