After the Detroit Lions’ 34-17 victory over the Chicago Bears, which marked a historic achievement for the franchise, head coach Dan Campbell displayed a mindset similar to Kobe Bryant’s after Game 2 of the 2009 NBA Finals, as noted by ESPN’s Eric Woodyard on X.

Campbell expressed pride in his team’s ability to bounce back, saying, “I knew they would. It takes a special group—emotionally, physically, and mentally—to recover after a tough loss, especially when it’s been a while since you’ve lost. I made sure to remind them that this was a franchise record with 13 wins, something that’s never been done before.” However, he stressed, “We’ll reflect on that achievement one day, but not now. We’ve still got a tough challenge ahead with San Francisco next week, a very strong team. But for today, we did what we had to do—creating turnovers and converting them into points, getting out to an early lead, and controlling the game. We played the right way.”

Campbell’s team had just suffered a close defeat to the Buffalo Bills in Week 15, a game that could have demoralized them. Despite facing numerous injuries, most people might have expected the Lions to falter, but Campbell’s mentality was far from that. He remained focused on getting his team back to “Detroit football” and ensuring they stayed on track for the rest of the season.