After up and down November, Campbell acknowledges Lions might need to get used to taking the hard road

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Allen Park — Coming out of the bye week, having smashed the conference-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers before the break, Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell reset the table for his roster.

In a team meeting, the conference standings were displayed, and Campbell set the tone for the month ahead.

“It’s very competitive, especially at this point in the season for one conference,” Campbell said. “But all I stated was, ‘Hey, this is where we’re at, this is where these teams are at, and this thing’s about to shake out within the month of November.’ …You’re going to start seeing some risers and fallers, and a lot of these teams are playing each other. We’re one of them. So, it really is just handle your business, man. And the bottom line is, find a way to win your division.”

A year ago, the Lions owned November, impressively sweeping the month with five wins in 25 days. This year, they’ve taken as many steps back as they have forward.

Detroit started the slate with a jarring loss to Minnesota at home, rebounded with a dominant victory over the Commanders on the road, before they were undone by an inability to convert on third and fourth down against the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles.

A furious rally against the 2-9 Giants on Sunday brought them back to .500 on the month, but, at 7-4, they remain outside of the NFC playoff picture with six games to go. The margin of error is shrinking, and Thursday’s divisional game with the Packers has the potential to set the tone for the rest of the slate.

Will Detroit rise or fall? Unlike the past two seasons, the answer is less certain. It genuinely feels things could go either way.

On Monday, three days before the holiday classic, Campbell was asked to reflect on the past four games and whether his team was improving the way he had anticipated.

Campbell started his lengthy response by acknowledging that the team’s inconsistency has been frustrating. One week, the defense might be solid, but the offense struggles. Next, the offense is cooking, but the defense and special teams aren’t living up to expectations.

Campbell has been waiting for the team to put it together, all three phases, as they roll into the stretch run in pursuit of a third straight division crown. However, he acknowledged that it might not happen this year.

Maybe the story of this team, Campbell explained, is finding ways to grind out wins, like they did Sunday against the Giants.

“You can say what you want about yesterday,” Campbell said. “At the end of the day, the best thing that happened was that we did complement each other. …It’s like you take it the way it comes, and you just try to improve along the way. And you just never know.

“I mean 15-2 felt great last year until you get booted right out,” Campbell said. “Then it’s like maybe we’ve got to go the hard road and just win. Let’s just win and find a way every week and grind it out.”

Campbell is an optimist, one who often cites belief as the reason things will turn around. He puts unconditional faith in those around him — the work his staff and players put into the process of upholding the standard. This is the closest he’ll come to acknowledging some of the team’s flaws might not get ironed out this year.

But that concession doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a continued belief that the Lions still can’t find a way to get it done, every week, up and through the Super Bowl.

Another former Detroit athlete used to famously say, ‘If it ain’t rough, it ain’t right.”

These Lions might not have a choice, so they might as well embrace it.