What grade does Dan Campbell merit for the 2023 season with the Lions?

 

 

 

And to top it all off, he guided the Lions to their first back-to-back postseason victories since 1957—the previous season Detroit was the NFL champions. To put things in perspective, this championship was won prior to the Super Bowl era, which began in 1966–1967.

With one more victory, Campbell & Co. would have been able to compete for the Lombardi Trophy, a franchise first.

Of course, Campbell shares part of the responsibility for the team’s defeat to San Francisco in the NFC Championship Game, a contest in which the Lions lost a 17-point lead at halftime. In the second half, he made two contentious choices to go for it on fourth down, both of which failed and swung the momentum in the 49ers’ favor.

However, his 2023 campaign shouldn’t be primarily remembered for those bold play choices that Detroit ultimately had to abandon.

Rather, his greatest legacy should be the number of fourth-down calls that he made correctly throughout the regular season and postseason (22 of 45). Whether you agree with Campbell’s assessment that the Lions were misguided to leave their offense on the field so often, his aggressive style undoubtedly contributed to the team’s 2023 success.

Without a doubt, he also had a significant impact on revitalizing the Detroit fan base and giving supporters hope that the Lions might compete with and defeat the league’s best teams.

This season will be remembered as one of the finest in the 94-year history of the team, even if they don’t win the Super Bowl. It’s difficult to argue that Campbell shouldn’t receive an “A” for his coaching efforts in ’23 because of this.