Who would’ve thought THIS game might be interesting??

Dan Miller is the voice of the Detroit lions. They will be playing at the New York jets and out of nowhere. This is maybe the signature game on Sunday.

You had this four weeks ago, right Dan? The, the trip to East Rutherford was going to be between two of the best teams in the NFL. When I called when they were one and six, I just said, everybody calm down, just wait until they get to the jets game. And then you'll see both these teams will be in perfect position.

This will be a game with major playoff implications. Yeah, I was all over it. Holy cow. First of all, it's fun. And I want to go back to the beginning of last year or the time that Dan Campbell was hired and the press conference where he was biting kneecaps and all of that, which was hysterical and was used by us for, I mean, we probably played it a hundred times in that month. It just, it was too good not to play, but there's something about Dan Campbell that I think is genuine and that you root for. So from afar, not following the lions day in and day out at one and six, was that honeymoon over or were, were people still kind of team Dan Campbell?

No, it was getting a little bit rough. I mean, I think there was still plenty of people that, that still understood that this was a team that, you know, had won three games last year and a mess that he took over with Brad Holmes going into that season last year. So I think there was still a lot of people that were on his side, but I do think the NFL fan is not built with great patients all the time.

Look, it's, it's the league that presents the easiest and quickest route to a turnaround, you know, out of any of them in my mind, you can get an NFL team turned around quicker. And you know, I think the frustrating thing, Adam was that they had been so close in those games, except for the new England game, they were in pretty much every game, but they kept losing. They were the number one scoring team through four weeks and had one win. And it was just like, there was some mistakes. People thought in terms of coaching and clock management and things like that, that I think had people losing a little bit of patience, but you know, he kept saying, we're close. The players kept saying, we're close. The players never lost their faith in him.

The players never lost their faith in what they would be at asked to do. So it really wasn't that massive a turnaround. It was just all of a sudden they stopped turning the ball over. They've turned it over twice in the last seven games. They, you know, Jared Goff had nine turnovers in the first six games, preinterceptions fumbles, and they started taking the ball away.

And I think there's somewhere along the lines of 13 and two 14 and two take away to turnover, uh, since this thing started. So they stopped being careless with the football. They stopped committing silly penalties. They started getting defensive stops every now and then it's still a defense that needs some work and golf really picked up his game.

I mean, it's, it's, it's some pretty basic stuff that they just found a way to kind of kick into gear and that's really resulted in this turnaround. I'm going to ask you about Jared Goff in a second, but going back to last week, I think a lot of people were surprised. Minnesota 10 wins at Detroit and the lions were favored and Vegas tells us a lot about what expectations are.

Um, how did that play? You know, I think people were a little bit surprised, but, but I will say this, I think based on what the team had shown us in the six previous games, five previous games, whatever it was, they were a much different team than maybe their record indicated. And they had Minnesota beat in Minnesota in week three and let them off the hook. Um, so look, look, I was surprised, uh, when that line came out and they were favored, but I didn't think it was completely outrageous once you sat down and thought about it. And also frankly, when you started to look a little bit deeper at Minnesota, which has one of the worst defenses in the league and can't stop the pass and, and really doesn't run the ball all that well, despite having Dalvin cook. Um, so I think there's some things that went into that, that there was shock value at first, but I think as you look deeper at the lion's performance leading into that game and the Vikings overall performance this year, nine and oh, and what score game so that that's some escapes not taking anything away from them.

They've done it. They've found a way they got a good recipe, but so I think that, that, but let me say this, all that being said, the fact that they did it, the fact that they won, the fact that they won in pretty convincing fashion, I think as time goes on, you continue to learn something about yourself and you answer questions along the way. And you can say, Hey, it wasn't a second blush, a huge shock that they were favored, but what really matters is they handled the business and they won the game and they won the game playing football the right way. And they actually made more mistakes in that game than they've made in a while. But I think coming out of there, there's more confidence in them from the outside. And I think it just gives them more confidence in themselves going forward. I think one of the hardest things to do, and we're talking with Dan Miller, the voice of the Detroit lions, the hardest thing to do in team sports is to win. Like when you're making this turnaround to win, when you are expected to win and being a favorite in that game said, Oh, we expect you guys to win.

And by the way, they did cover as well. How about Jared Goff? What has been the difference between golf at maybe at the beginning of the year or last year and right now? I think last year at the beginning of the year, I think he was in shock. I think he had been discarded by Los Angeles. I think he was losing here with a bad football team. I think his former team was eight no at midseason or whatever it was, and the guy replaced him was probably the leading MVP candidate.

And I think it was just really him trying to figure out where the heck he was, what the heck he was doing or what the heck had happened. If you look at the stats towards the end of the year, they changed offensive coordinators. Anthony Lynn went out. Dan Campbell started calling the plays. Jared Goff's performance went up. I think it was a combination of that and just him getting more comfortable along the way. And then this year, they had some injuries early to, to his receiving core. And he just made some careless mistakes with the football. And I think if there's been a difference in this turnaround, it has just been that, that, you know, he's been much better with the football, making better decisions.

The guys around him are healthier. This team is built around its offensive line. That offensive line is back healthy and playing great. Uh, there is, he is, I think they're fourth least amount of sacks given up. So he's getting time to do his job.

He's just doing, uh, what's being asked of him back there. And, and with this offense and the weapons they have, you know what, just be patient, take what they give you because they got plenty of guys that can make plays on this football team from Swift to chart to Amun Ra to Jamison Williams. Now coming back to Reynolds to Jamal Williams, this team is built to score. And they've done that pretty much all year, except when they were given the football away.

So, uh, I think if you look at it on paper, this is kind of what they envisioned. Defense needs some work, but the offense has led the way. It's been fun too in Detroit. I know we, uh, it's hockey town, but, uh, that is a great city with incredible passionate fans that hasn't had a ton to point to over the last few years. So, uh, I'm sure that there's a lot of people like, I'd like to say that this is a Superbowl preview between the lions and the jets, but I think the loser of this game is probably not going to be in the Superbowl. Well, I think here's the issue with the lions and, and they just dug a massive hole for themselves at one and six and you've left yourself basically no room for error. So I think the, the big picture is, look, there's something to sink your teeth into here.

There's a clear direction. It looks like every you've got young players that are developing, you've got one player on the roster that's over 30. So there's a lot to like here, but in terms of the here and now and getting to January, it'd still be a plan. And the third week in January, uh, they pretty much have to win out, but that's kind of where they are with a one and six start. It's just really, really a tough road ahead. And for both these teams on Sunday, this is obviously a massive game. Yeah. I mean, it's hard to, hard to believe, you know, even using the words lions at jets, man, this is a big one.

And it's not about who gets the first pick in the draft. Dan Miller, I appreciate you, uh, for a lot of reasons, but, uh, for coming on today, I appreciate your time, man. Always good.

Agee. Appreciate you, man. Thank you. You got it. Dan Miller.