The Detroit Lions appear to be back on track as one of the powerhouses in the NFC, while the Cincinnati Bengals have dropped two straight games since losing their star quarterback.
The two teams collide this Sunday in Cincinnati in a matchup of head coaches with a long history together.
Since falling in their season opener in Green Bay, the Lions (3-1) have won three straight, including last Sunday’s 34-10 win at home over Cleveland, a game they trailed early, 7-0.
“(I saw) what I expect from them, and that’s our resiliency,” coach Dan Campbell said. “We don’t get caught up in things that don’t relate to us or have any bearing on what we control. Our guys stay locked in on what it takes to win a game, and/or why you didn’t play well, and it really is as simple as that. That’s not an easy thing to do, I don’t think, in today’s age. I think that’s hard. Our guys are constantly — you can’t escape it. The social media, the critics, the fans, all of it.”
Lions quarterback Jared Goff was just 16 of 27 through the air for 168 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
Amon-Ra St. Brown caught both touchdowns from Goff and Jahmyr Gibbs ran for 91 yards on 15 carries against the Browns defense.
Conversely, the Bengals (2-2) have allowed back-to-back 100-yard games by opposing rushers, including Denver’s J.K. Dobbins going for 101 yards on 16 carries Monday night in Cincinnati’s 28-3 loss.
This is the second meeting between Campbell and Bengals head coach Zac Taylor. In 2021, Campbell’s first season in Detroit, the Bengals beat the Lions handily, 34-11 at Ford Field on their way to an AFC championship and a trip to Super Bowl LVI.
“I have tremendous memories with Dan,” said Taylor, who worked on the Miami Dolphins coaching staff with Campbell from 2012-15. “I’ve got respect for him. He’s done an unbelievable job. I do reflect back on 2021 and his first year there.
“Knowing what they were building you could tell — they played with a lot of undrafted free agents on defense — but you could just tell they had the identity of their coaching staff, the head coach, the way that they played. We got the best of them that day, but you could see something that was building in the future, whether people believed it at the time or not, it was very clear. So now you’re here in 2025 and the success they’ve had over the years, and the success they’ve had this year winning three in a row, it’s a really good football team.”
Now the roles have been reversed a bit, with the Lions coming off a 15-2 regular season in 2024 and the Bengals coming off back-to-back 9-8 seasons and having lost star quarterback Joe Burrow indefinitely with turf toe that led to surgery two weeks ago.
The Bengals have lost their last two games on the road by a combined 76-13 score and are returning home to face a Detroit team that’s gotten hot. Jake Browning has struggled in his two starts since Joe Burrow went down, putting only 13 points on the board while throwing two interceptions (to along with the three he tossed off the bench against Jacksonville).
“I personally love playing these types of games,” Taylor said. “These are my favorite games to play. This is why we do it. Our backs are against the ball a little bit going into this game off two losses. That’s perfect. I like to see how everybody responds. Who lives in fear? Who thrives in adversity? It’s a great opportunity for a coach to really assess what guys are made of, myself included. It’s a tremendous opportunity we are not running from, we are running directly into.”
At Wednesday’s practice, the Bengals were without first-round draft pick defensive end Shemar Stewart (ankle) as well as wide receiver Charlie Jones (Achilles). Tight end Noah Fant was limited with a concussion.
Six players didn’t participate in Lions practice, among them cornerback Khalil Dorsey (concussion), tackle Taylor Decker (shoulder) and linebacker Zach Cunningham (hamstring).
Cornerback D.J. Reed (hamstring) also was a non-participant and was placed on injured reserve later Wednesday.