The Detroit Lions have met high expectations, showing they could be a Super Bowl contender.
“I feel like we can beat anybody in the league,” said coach Dan Campbell on Monday.
At 7-1, the Lions are off to their best start since 1956, even though they’re missing eight important players on defense, including Aidan Hutchinson. The team has won six games in a row, the first time they’ve done so since 1995.
As the defending NFC North champions, they are leading the conference and have beaten divisional opponents Green Bay and Minnesota on the road.
“We’re in a good place right now,” Campbell said.
However, the Lions are in urgent need of a pass rusher after losing Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, and John Cominsky to injuries, and Josh Paschal to illness.
Campbell said it’s hard to predict whether general manager Brad Holmes will make a trade before the NFL’s deadline on Tuesday.
“I don’t think it’s entirely up to us,” Campbell said. “I can tell you that we’re trying. Brad’s trying.”
“We’ve looked at everything, we really have, made a ton of calls, and he’s been rolling on it. So, we’ll see, we still have a little bit of time here.”
If Holmes decides that the cost of a defensive end is too high, Campbell shared the backup plan.
“If something doesn’t get done, we’ll start poaching some of these other practice squads,” Campbell said. “See if we can find some guys that we really liked when they were coming out (of college) that have some ability, see if they can grow, and then we’ll continue to give our guys here on this roster a shot.”
