The Detroit Lions just set a franchise record with 15 wins in 2024, and they’re looking toward what could be a defining 2025 season. Having finished as the top-seeded team in the NFC, the Lions came into the playoffs with a buzz. They opened the season with a thud, dropping their opener to the Washington Commanders, 45-31. The pain of having experienced this loss is still fresh. Veteran additions such as David Montgomery have started referring to the upcoming season as a “year of reckoning.”
Montgomery continued, to underscore the entire team’s irritation. They are “sick of getting second” when it comes to winning a Super Bowl and committed to no longer just making the playoffs but succeeding past that point. Their goal is clear: finish what they started and secure a championship.
We hope to complete it, so this is the year for us. This is the year of reckoning,” Montgomery pronounced. We have to decide to do better and to do better by doing better. The Lions are fifth-ranked overall now, with the second-shortest odds to win the NFC at ESPN BET. They stand one game back of the still defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Montgomery ran for an eye-popping 775 yards and 12 touchdowns last season. His contributions were part of a team that has undergone significant growth since 2021, adding maturity and resilience as they approach the 2025 season. All players and coaches know there is no room for “close” at this level.
“It’s cool to be close at first, but you don’t want to get comfortable with being close all the time,” Montgomery remarked, emphasizing the need for a shift in mindset.
Head Coach Dan Campbell is still riding high on his football team’s prospects. He knows that getting back to the postseason would come at the “price to be paid.” Dangerously, though, he doubles down on the idea that complacency is unacceptable. “If we let that slide at all, then we’re going to be sitting here at home in January, and that’s not what we want,” Campbell noted.
Kalif Raymond backed up Montgomery’s feelings, driving home the notion that work is what truly matters. “You don’t work for almost. You work for the whole thing,” he said, indicating a shared commitment among players to pursue their ultimate goal.
Just ask the Lions, whose heartbreaking playoff loss last year has become a vivid flashback and lure this spring. Montgomery’s fight to the finish illustrates a more positive sentiment inside the organization. They’re doing everything possible to translate that potential into eventual winning on the field.
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