How Dan Campbell and the Lions can make history with a victory over Bills in Week 15

The 12-1 Detroit Lions play host to the 10-3 Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Ford Field in what could end up being a Super Bowl preview. 

It’s also an opportunity for Detroit to make some history and put an exclamation point on what’s been one of the fastest turnarounds in NFL history.

Remember, the Lions were 0-10-1 in their first 11 games under Dan Campbell, before finishing with a 3-13-1 record in 2021.

Fast forward just three years and they can win their franchise-record 13th game on Sunday, which would put them in very rare air.

The Lions can become the sixth team in NFL history to go from a 13-loss to a 13-win season in three or fewer seasons. Nobody did it faster than the Colts, who went from 3-13 in Peyton Manning’s rookie year in 1998, to 13-3 in his second season in 1999. You’ll also notice Bill Walsh and Joe Montana’s 49ers on the list, Jimmy Johnson and Troy Aikman’s Cowboys, the recent 49ers with Kyle Shanahan and a surprise Falcons Super Bowl team in 1998. 

Quickest turnarounds from 13-loss season to 13-win season in NFL history

It’s also impressive that Campbell was actually around to oversee the turnaround in a league where coaches are fired quicker than ever. 

The 2021 season was Campbell’s first full year as a coach after an interim stint with the Dolphins. He can be the fourth coach in NFL history with a 13-win season for the same franchise he had a 13-loss season for in his first year as a full-time coach.

The other three coaches were Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh and Jimmy Johnson. Coaching royalty. All are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. All won multiple Super Bowls as a coach, combining for nine. Perhaps that’s foreshadowing in Detroit. 

The Lions’ historic turnaround also means other teams will be trying to do whatever they can to replicate this success in a copycat league.

It’s no secret that the culture in Detroit, stemming from Campbell’s toughness and the 100% belief in his team (including the gutsy fourth-down calls) are one reason they are on the doorstep of this historic turnaround, and perhaps their first ever Super Bowl appearance.