It was a stressful, nausea-inducing night for fans of the Detroit Lions — and one of their players, too.
After the Lions’ dramatic 34-31 victory over the Green Bay Packers in Detroit on Thursday, December 5, head coach Dan Campbell gave a rousing postgame speech in the Ford Field locker room as offensive lineman Dan Skipper was hunched over in the corner.
“Offense, that’s a way to step up, man,” Campbell, 48, said. “That’s a way to step up. There you go, Skip. Keep throwin’ up! Whatever you’re doing over there.”
A video shared by the Lions’ social media team panned over to show Skipper, 30, down on one knee in obvious distress. Campbell’s line drew a hearty laugh from his teammates, who used a 35-yard field goal from Jake Bates as time expired to defeat Green Bay for their 11th consecutive victory.
Skipper started the game at left tackle in place of the Lions’ Taylor Decker, who missed his second consecutive game with a knee injury.
“You talk about pressure? We live in pressure,” Campbell continued. “That’s where we freakin’ thrive. You did it again. You f—in’ did it again. It doesn’t matter who’s playing for us, it doesn’t matter what’s going on. You always find a way to win. That’s what f—in’ champions do.”
The Lions’ win secured their spot in the playoffs and maintained their one game lead over the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North.
“This is not happenstance, man,” Campbell added. “This doesn’t just f—in’ happen. This has been in the making, man. This has been in the making. We are all supposed to be here together, man. We’re destined for this. Just stay the course.”
Campbell rewarded Bates, 25, and wide receiver Tim Patrick, 31, who had his first touchdown since 2021 on Thursday, with his honorary game balls. The head coach told his players, “You will never forget this f—ing game.”
“We don’t have to talk about how tough we are, we don’t have to talk about how resilient we are,” Campbell boasted. “We f—ing live it, man. We’ve been livin’ it.”
He closed his inspired speech by saying, “You guys are f—ing warriors! You’re f—ing warriors! Good win! Break it down!”
Lions quarterback Jared Goff then brought the team together in the middle of the locker room where he issued his own stirring assessment of the game.
“This s— don’t just happen, boys,” Goff, 30, said. “We’re f—ing different. I’ll say it again. This group’s f—ing different.”
The Lions return to action on Sunday, December 15 against the Buffalo Bills.