The voice of the Detroit Lions joins the show as the Panthers prepare for a matchup

We talked to my friend Dan Miller, the voice of the Detroit Lions during the preseason, and we asked him the question, are the Lions prepared to handle being the hunted?

I think early returns speak very well of that. Dan Miller joins us again as the Panthers are going into the Den, if you will, this Sunday at one o'clock. I think so far so good, no?

Yeah, I do. I don't remember how I answered that in the summer, but I think, you know, look, this has kind of been a continuation of what they did at the end of last year where they won eight of their last ten games. Really, it played well except for that just abomination in Carolina when the Panthers killed them.

And, you know, they've done a lot of the same things. The defense looks better. The defense maybe hasn't caught up to where it was last year, but it's a confident team. It's still a pretty young team, but it's a team that really believes in what they're doing, and that's showing up on Sundays. And to start the first month of the season with a win at Arrowhead and a win at Lambeau, I think speaks well to what this team is capable of doing.

I want to go to the win. First of all, the win over the Chiefs was awesome. You know, Kansas City maybe took Detroit a little lightly.

I don't know. We all know Detroit is good. We saw what happened at the end of last year. But the win at Lambeau for me spoke to a different thing because you spoiled, the Lions spoiled the Packers' season last year. Their comeback to potentially make the playoffs spoiled it on that field. And then you go back there again and you know that the Packers are like, that's not going to happen again. And then it was worse from a Packers standpoint. It was a blowout.

How do you come down or how do you stay up from something like that? Well, I think what you say is true. That was a big moment for this team for other reasons besides the ones that you mentioned, which were all correct. I think, look, Minnesota's off to a slow start. Chicago's off to a slow start. All offseason, everybody was talking about the Lions are the favorite in the NFC North, which is brand new.

That just hasn't happened around here in a long time. And you know, people in Green Bay heard that in addition to the fact that, as you said, they knocked them out last year. So they were ready. And somebody was going to make a statement on that Thursday night that they're the team to beat.

And the road goes through either Green Bay or Detroit to win the NFC North. And to go on the road and to make that statement and say, yeah, we are the favorite. We are the team. We're the guys that you're chasing.

I think that that was a big moment. Now, to your question, I think the key is not to believe that. And I think that's really the attitude that Dan Campbell instills in his team. He wants them to believe they're good, but he wants them still to hunt. He doesn't want them to be the team that people are chasing. He wants them to be the team that still goes after him. And I was actually sitting down with David Montgomery for something I had to do yesterday. And he said, that's always my mindset. I will never look at it any other way because I always want to be chasing something. I don't want to feel like I've arrived.

And I just think Dan Campbell, for all the things he does well, and there's a lot of them, the best thing he does is set the tone for this team. Now, it just, look, over 17 games, you're going to have some clunkers. It's just unavoidable.

And I just hope it's not this week. Look, they're the better team. They should go in and win this game.

Execute, win. That's what good teams do. But I always caution people in this league, stuff happens. And you've got to be ready to play every Sunday. There's no question stuff happens.

I appreciate you self-editing if you had to. Dan Miller, the voice of the Detroit Lions, is joining us here on the Adam Gold Show. I guess the beauty of the NFL is also this. And maybe it's easier to keep players and coaches and everybody else kind of grounded in all of it. Is that no matter how much we believe that the Lions are significantly better than the Vikings and the Bears, and it did look Thursday night, last Thursday night, than the Packers, one slip up and all of a sudden you're tied for first.

No doubt. And you know what? I think to me, having kind of been in this life forever in sports, but doing play-by-play for 19 years and doing play-by-play for a bad team for a lot of those years, I think, Adam, one of the things that makes the NFL special is you play one game a week. And you come off a game on Sunday. Maybe you're elated.

Maybe you're hacked off. Maybe you're just, you know, gutted. But by Monday, you're looking ahead a little bit. By Tuesday, you're starting to feel better.

And I'm talking about those bad Lions teams. By Wednesday, you're starting to think, okay, I'm talking to the coach, I'm talking to the players. If they do this, this, and this, they can win.

By Thursday, you believe it. And by the time Sunday kicks off, you think you have a chance. That's the charm of this league. And it's also the fact that you only get 17 tries. It's not like in the NBA or the NHL where you come back two nights later and get a chance to do it over again. So it's the build-up, the build-up that makes you believe you have a chance to win, and the build-up that probably also leads you to respect your opponent because you know if you don't, they can punch you in the mouth. So it's really, I think it's the life they live and the way they live it and the way these games are set apart and built up and how each one is an event that makes it truly special. And just looking around the league every single week and seeing the surprising results that make you understand, look, be ready because if you're not, most of these games are within the score in the fourth quarter anyway.

Absolutely. And one break and it's going the other way. Yeah, if I'm not mistaken, the Panthers, for all of their futility, have been ahead in every one of their games. And I think ahead in the second half in every one of their games. You led me, and we're talking about Dan Miller, the voice in the Lions, you led me into this and I have one other thing I want to get to that is really more nuts and bolts about the game. But how are the fans handling it? Because here, Panthers fans are tweeting through it. They are dealing with a lot of stuff. They've already questioned whether or not the coach was right, the quarterback was right. They're still after the owner.

They are dealing with it publicly and loudly here. How have the fans in Detroit handled success and the prospect of getting back to the playoffs? I think the end of last year had them just absolutely ready to roll and believing in this team. And then what was seen as a good offseason here, improving the secondary, bringing guys that are going to play roles right away, fired people up. It was the first time since they moved into Ford Field that they sold out season tickets before the season started.

And that gives an indication of where the fans are. It has been absolutely nuts here. Look, people love this team. And sometimes it was hard to love it.

And sometimes you loved it, but you kind of pushed it away. And even the ones that pushed it away, we're only waiting for this team to give them something they could believe in. And Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes have done that. And I think these fans, even the ones that had kind of said, OK, I'm Lions free for a while, have come back. And it's it's a great, great sports town and a great, great football town. And they're loving what they're seeing right now. Look, I think there's look, they're not cocky. There's some trepidation because they've seen things and we are you know, it's cliche, but we are Charlie Brown when Lucy pulls the football away and have been for a long time. And I just think that. But, you know, on its surface, they're fired up and they absolutely love this team. They love their coach. The owner has won this town over. There's just it's all positive here right now.

All right. Now to some nuts and bolts. Wide receiver health.

I'm in Ross St. Brown. Didn't practice right. Josh Reynolds hasn't practiced or he's been limited. Jamison Williams coming back, possibly from the gambling suspension.

Where is the wide receiver position availability wise? So take to the crevice. It is a prescription treatment for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who may benefit from systemic therapy or photo therapy. Don't take if you're allergic to so take to serious reactions can occur before treatment. Get checked for infections, including tuberculosis. So take to can lower your ability to fight infections. Don't start if you have one serious infections, cancers, including lymphoma, muscle problems and changes in certain labs have occurred.

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Call 1 888 S O T Y K T you to learn more. I think it's going to go right up till Sunday. You know, I think I'm in Ross said yesterday he still believes he can play.

I don't know if that's true. They're not going to risk it if it's going to hurt him long term. This could go right up until Sunday. And I think their ideal situation would be the J mo's on a snap count. And, you know, he gets 15 to 18 snaps or something like that.

Just work him back in slowly. They may not have that luxury, but, you know, they're going to roll it out there with Kelly frame and Marvin Jones and former Tar Heel Antoine Green and do whatever they have to do. If these guys are not ready to play, but I think they're kind of giving them time. I mean, at four o'clock this afternoon, we may know differently. But as of yesterday, I would still say was a little bit up in the air. I'm in Rob was out of practice sprinting. I would say full speed. It just depends on what that abdomen injury is and what the, you know, deal would be on whether or not he can hurt it further.

All right, final thing. If the Panthers ever establish or reestablish their identity, the ground and pound, they want to run the football. The Lions do not allow anybody to run the football on them. Is that irresistible force meets immovable object?

Not sure yet. They put a lot of emphasis in the offseason on stopping the run and they've done a really good job of that so far. I need more proof to believe that it's real and it has staying power. We've seen some teams like Atlanta came in here after running all over their previous opponent and like started throwing the ball right off the bat.

I'm like, what are you doing? So it's it is. They've really done a good job, but I think we need to see more to know whether or not it's going to hold up. But they've got some young guys on that defensive line that have really taken some nice steps this year. Also got some injuries up there where they could get better conceivably as guys come back. And it's it's still a young team with a lot of guys that are getting better. And that was part of the question going in was how much of a step would they take this year? Early on, they've done a nice job. But I got to tell you, I really believe there's still a ton of room for growth on this team because of the number of guys that are still figuring things out. And as these guys get a win at Arrowhead and get a win at Lambeau in their back pocket, their confidence just continues to go up. And this team could, you know, get considerably better as the year goes on. But what you just brought up is probably one of my biggest concerns coming into the year. Early returns have been great.

It's another test this week and I want to see how it goes. Dan Miller, voice of the Detroit Lions. I appreciate your time, sir. You're the best. I'll talk to you soon. Always good, my friend. Appreciate you.