Dan Campbell Says Detroit Lions 'Hype Train' Is 'Out-Of-Control' And He's Not Wrong

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The Detroit Lions are a trendy team heading into the 2023-24 NFL season. After starting last year 1-6, the Lions won eight of their last ten games and narrowly missed the playoffs. Thanks to that hot finish, expectations are high for the team this year. Head coach Dan Campbell is concerned those expectations are little TOO high.

"I think it's always the thing that's going to worry you is the hype train," Campbell said. "This thing is just taking off and is out-of-control right now.

"And that's fine, as long as we stay focused on the job at hand and the work ... We put the work in and earn it."

Campbell is certainly correct. The Detroit Lions won nine games last season and finished over .500. It was their first nine-win season since 2017. And it was just their fifth nine-win or more season in the past 20 years.

They haven't won a playoff game since 1991. Plus, they have just three playoff appearances in the 21st century.

Dan Campbell and the 2023 Detroit Lions are set up for success, but that doesn't guarantee anything

There are reasons to be optimistic, sure. They played incredibly well down the stretch last season. Aaron Rodgers left the Green Bay Packers, meaning the NFC North is arguably the most winnable that it's been in years.

Quarterback Jared Goff had probably the second-best season of his career, save for the Los Angeles Rams Super Bowl season in 2018.

And since Goff has reached the Super Bowl, clearly he's a quarterback with enough to get a team to that point. I maintain he's still much more of a game-manager-type who needs everything around him to go right as opposed to a QB who elevates his team to another level.

But that's OK, as long as the other Detroit Lions do their jobs, as Dan Campbell said.

The Detroit Lions are a trendy team heading into this NFL season, but head coach Dan Campbell warns about the

The Detroit Lions are a trendy team heading into this NFL season, but head coach Dan Campbell warns about the "out-of-control" hype train. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)

Can they do that and keep their expectations in check? That's going to be the key to the season.

The Detroit Lions open the season against the Kansas City Chiefs in the first regular season game of the NFL's regular season.

That's a tough place to start and a lot of eyeballs are going to be on them early.

But if Dan Campbell thinks the Lions hype train is out-of-control now, just see what happens if they go into Kansas City and beat the defending Super Bowl Champions in Week 1.

There might not be a strong enough descriptor for what that will look like.

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.