Ford Field has life and character for the first time since the stadium opened up back in 2002.
Don’t get me wrong, Detroit Lions fans have been psychotic (a compliment) for decades, but that has never really translated to a transformative experience on game days. It could get loud at times, but there just didn’t seem to be any consistent personality—and understandably so. The Lions were absolutely terrible for the first decade in Ford Field.
But now, the Lions’ home field is afire. With Detroit’s unprecedented success last year and their strong start this year, Ford Field is a terror for opposing teams. Detroit is regularly selling out tickets and posting attendances above capacity. They’re setting—and resetting—their own personal-best for decibel levels reached inside. And now it’s gotten the attention of the national media.
On Tuesday’s “Good Morning Football,” Peter Schrager brought an argument to the roundtable.
“Detroit is now the hardest place to win a road game in the NFL.”
Akbar Gbajabiamila is buying Schrager’s statement.
“When we’re hungry and we’re starving, and we haven’t had food—something to nourish our bodies—what happens to the stomach? You get hangry, it starts to grumble, it starts to get loud, you’re uncomfortable, people can hear your stomach rumbling,” Gbajabiamila said. “That’s what’s going on in Detroit right now. They are rumbling right now. They haven’t had this type of success for however many decades, right? It’s been a long time and now that they’ve got some juice, they got some energy. That energy is so real.
“You look at the numbers, 31 points per game inside Detroit, 403 yards per game. That’s first and second in the NFL since 2022. This momentum has been developing now for eight miles.”
Both Jamie Erdahl and Schreger himself also bought the Lions as the current toughest place to play, but there were two detractors.
Kyle Brandt opted to pick Miami and made a compelling argument. To Brandt, the loud noise is something all teams have to deal with on the road. But the Dolphins make the physical conditions tough on the visitor’s sideline due to the heat and direct sunlight.
Isaiah Stanback went with the Kansas City Chiefs due to that team’s success at home plus the fact that they have the current decibel record.
You can watch their entire discussion here:
We In or We Out:
Detroit is the hardest place to win in a NFL road game 🤔@JamieErdahl | @PSchrags | @Akbar_Gbaja | @KyleBrandt | @IamSTANBACK | @Lions | #OnePride pic.twitter.com/M2SQeSqtO7— Good Morning Football (@gmfb) September 10, 2024
- Nice film breakdown from Justin Rogers on Amon-Ra St. Brown’s slow day, Detroit’s pass rush, and the secondary performance vs. Rams.
- The Lions social media team is elite.
Straight Aura +1000 pic.twitter.com/aUoAVFuojb
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) September 10, 2024
- Last week, Lions running backs coach Scottie Montgomery said that David Montgomery had one of his best training camps, and we saw the results of it on Sunday night against the Rams. The Lions released a video from camp of both Scottie and coach Dan Campbell fawning over how Montgomery was looking physically and playing in practice:
It all adds up@MontgomerDavid pic.twitter.com/aadAoeDchx
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) September 10, 2024
- I enjoyed this “fact or fiction” piece from The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy, who broke down some of the Week 1 narratives.
- This cut up of Aidan Hutchinson against the Rams shows some absolutely dominant play:
Aidan Hutchinson vs. LA's backups was a massacre. One of the best pass rushing performances you'll ever see pic.twitter.com/CVK7ICWBE9
— James Foster (@NoFlagsFilm) September 9, 2024
- “The Detroit Lions’ identity” was named a Week 1 winner in this insightful piece from The Ringer.
