Lions change narrative in NFC North with road blowout of Packers at Lambeau Field

The Detroit Lions have been bad for so long that learning how to win is part of the narrative for Dan Campbell's club.

The Lions, who literally have never won the NFC North (their last division title came in 1993 when it was the NFC Central), took over the division reins with Thursday night's 34-20 win over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.

The fashion of the latest victory -- dismantling the Packers in the first half -- will help Campbell wash away the "Same Ol' Lions" motif that has followed the club for decades.

"We have our own standards, our own goals of what we want to do and certainly one of those is winning the division," Campbell said after the game. "You have to win your division games, and if you can get them on the road that goes a long way. So we knew that and this is important. It's not the end all be all, but it is important. So to be able to get a division win, it is also a conference win, that's two wins in a row. Puts us 3-1 at the quarter. I am really, really happy with where we are at. I'm proud of the guys, the staff, everybody. I mean that was outstanding. You know, to be able to snap back on a short week with that type of performance was really good."

In their first two seasons under Campbell, the Lions came out of the gate with a limp. In 2021, they started 0-10-1 before getting their first victory. In 2022, they started 1-6 before finishing with a flourish -- including beating the Packers in Green Bay to close the season.

The strong finish last season brought offseason optimism to Detroit that the Lions could be the division front-runner.

So far, the expectations haven't gotten the best of Campbell's crew. If not for a Jared Goff pick-six in Week 2, we could be talking about an undefeated club.