Dan Campbell insists the Detroit Lions will go all out on Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers. Despite coming off a short week and having the division locked up, Campbell is against resting his starters.
Lions To Play Starters on Monday Night Football Against 49ers
ESPN’s Adam Schefter was on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday and said Lions coach Dan Campbell will play his starters against San Francisco despite having no valid reason to do so.
The only thing the Lions have not wrapped up yet is the top spot in the NFC. They can do that with a win on Sunday at home against the Minnesota Vikings. Both teams have a 13-2 record at this point, but if they both finish 13-3, the Lions will get the first-round bye and home-field advantage based on a tiebreaker system. The loser gets the No. 5 seed.
"The Lions are on a short week with nothing to play for but they're gonna go for it tonight..
Dan Campbell has been pretty adamant that they're gonna keep playing..
They're going out there to win this game"@AdamSchefter #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/Yq674OicNG
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 30, 2024
Schefter reports that Campbell is going all out on Monday night and does not want to slack off. He wants to keep his foot on the gas and go full speed against the 49ers.
“There’s nothing to play for. You’re on a short week. You play the Vikings. Then Dan says, ‘We’re gonna try to win this game,’” Schefter said. “I’m like, okay. I mean, if you listen to his quotes, this is who they are. They are built on grit and toughness. They go for it. They’re going to go for it tonight. Now, again, I think you have to see how the game is flowing and what’s happening.
“And I think they’re going in with the mindset, we’re going to try to win this game again. This is in talking to them, they’re like, well, we could become the 10th team in NFL history to have 15 regular-season wins.
“I said, Okay, bravo. Good for that. They’re like, well, we don’t want to take away from the energy and the momentum that we built. Okay, but again, (the Lions are) in a short week. Everything is riding on Sunday night, but they’re not thinking the way we’re thinking. They’re just not thinking that.”
Schefter does not know why Campbell is risking injury by having them play in a meaningless game. The Philadelphia Eagles already locked up the No. 2 position, and the top spot will be determined next week, either way.
“Now, for me, it’s hard to imagine that you’re going to run Jahmyr Gibbs into the ground tonight when David Montgomery is gone, but they remember that they lost to this team,” Schefter said. “They think that they can just go out and be tough every week, and Dan Campbell has been pretty adamant they’re going to keep playing. Now, if they’re up two touchdowns in the third or fourth quarter, could we see a quicker hook? Yes.”
Schefter believes the starters will play until the game gets out of hand. Once the Lions have a comfortable lead, he believes the starters will get pulled off the field and the backups will take over.
“Could certain situations in the game enter into his thinking? It would be illogical to think that they wouldn’t, but going into the game, their mindset is we are going out there to win the game, and we’ll see how the game unfolds and how he handles it from there.”