![\"Lions](\"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/79545601007-52-77260.jpeg\")
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The\u00a0Detroit Lions\u00a0bounced back from their loss to the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0in Week 9 with a\u00a0stunning 44-22 win\u00a0over the\u00a0Washington Commanders\u00a0on Sunday, November 9, on the road. The win felt extra good because the Lions famously fell to the Commanders during\u00a0last season\u2019s divisional round, which saw Washington\u00a0beat the Lions in a 45-31 loss\u00a0to advance towards the championship game.<\/p>\n
During the game, Lions head coach Dan Campbell took over offensive play-calling duties from first-year offensive coordinator John Morton. He told the press that he met with Morton after the loss to the Vikings to have an honest conversation and talk about what went wrong and what improvements needed to be made. He also said that Morton was fine with doing whatever it takes to ensure the Detroit Lions win.<\/p>\n
\u201cListen, John Morton\u2019s all team. That\u2019s all he cares about,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cHe just wants to win. He wants to be a part of it. He wants to help where he can, and he was outstanding today.\u201d He added, \u201cHe\u2019s a grinder, he\u2019s a worker, and he just tries to help and give you anything you can possibly need for the game. Look, if you\u2019re him, of course it probably doesn\u2019t feel too good, but he\u2019s also a pro and he understands everything, so we move on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, the Detroit Lions will face the reigning champions, the\u00a0Philadelphia Eagles, on the road on Sunday, November 16, for\u00a0\u201cSunday Night Football.\u201d\u00a0Heading into the game, they have a reason to be happy.<\/p>\n
The Eagles beat the\u00a0Green Bay Packers\u00a0on Monday, November 10, during\u00a0\u201cMonday Night Football,\u201d\u00a0in doing so, they did the Lions a big favor. On Tuesday morning, the Lions woke up to being the\u00a0No. 1 team in the NFC North.<\/p>\n
Because of the Green Bay Packers having a tie with the\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0this season, having another loss changed the NFC North standings and put the Lions on top. Even though the\u00a0Chicago Bears\u00a0are tied with the Detroit Lions in the standings, Detroit holds the tiebreaker,\u00a0according to NFL research, so the Lions are technically first.<\/p>\n
The Packers\u2019 loss to the Eagles was a bit hit for Green Bay, and going forward, that game will have significant implications in the NFC\u2019s competition for the number one seed. If the Lions beat the Eagles this weekend, that will surely help their case to getting that number one seed, but was we know from last season, it doesn\u2019t matter if they fall early in the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Another team to watch in the NFC is the\u00a0Seattle Seahawks. They\u2019re ranked No. 1 in the Week 11\u00a0power rankings from the NFL,\u00a0No. 5 on the ESPN\u2019s tally\u00a0and No. 1 on\u00a0Alternative Fix\u2019s NFL power rankings. The\u00a0Los Angeles Rams are also topping Week 11 tallies.<\/p>\n
Eric Edholm of the NFL\u2019s official website\u00a0says of Seattle, \u201cFollowing the Seahawks\u2019\u00a0thrashing of the Cardinals, even with some ugly stretches, I feel OK about elevating them into this perch. In a season where I\u2019ve spotlighted multiple teams atop the list, this feels like stability.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris Jones is a future Hall of Famer.<\/p>\n
A six-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro, he has 82.5 career sacks. That number is the fourth most in Kansas City Chiefs history.<\/p>\n
But in his 10th season, the 31-year-old defensive lineman, who has been the team\u2019s best defensive player throughout the Patrick Mahomes era, has not played up to his typically elite standards.<\/p>\n
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was asked about Jones during Monday\u2019s press conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all need to do better,\u201d he said. \u201cChris is always striving to do better every day. That\u2019s what\u2019s made him such a good player.\u201d<\/p>\n
But only in his rookie year in 2016 has Jones had so few sacks through eight games. (That year he also had two sacks but did not start until Week Seven and got his two sacks over the next four games.)<\/p>\n
He\u2019s had at least five sacks every other season.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just the two sacks he has this year. He has totaled\u00a0just five pressures in the last three games\u00a0while opposing offenses continue to focus their blocking schemes toward Jones.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll get his as we go forward,\u201d Reid said. \u201cHe\u2019s the guy that they\u2019re going to focus on. And if you\u2019re getting a double team, that\u2019s who\u2019s getting doubled.\u201d<\/p>\n
But from a financial perspective, Jones must do more than occupy blockers. He takes up three times the salary cap space as every other Chiefs defender after signing a five-year $158.75 million contract extension before the 2024 season.<\/p>\n
The Chiefs need him to dominate.<\/p>\n
Many presumed 2025 would be a huge year for Jones because of how the defensive leader was emotionally impacted by the 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX.<\/p>\n
In the postgame locker room, his inspiring, motivational speech to the team was captured in the ESPN documentary\u00a0Kingdom<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, it\u2019s gonna hurt. It\u2019s supposed to. It\u2019s a lesson, but it\u2019s also something you can build off of,\u201d he said. \u201cMake sure when you approach training camp, this is the best shape you\u2019ve ever been in because you\u2019ve got something to prove, man. It\u2019s gonna hurt. They was the better team today, and it\u2019s okay. You got to accept that —-. When you accept it, you work hard.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones knows what it\u2019s like to both win and lose Super Bowls. Along with Mahomes and Travis Kelce, Harrison Butker and James Winchester, Jones is one of five players to suit up in all five of the Chiefs\u2019 recent Super Bowls, winning three.<\/p>\n He explained his postgame reaction to coming up just short of the historic three-peat last year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all was overflowed with emotions especially after a big game like that and especially the way we lost,\u201d Jones said. \u201cIt\u2019s more so about how you respond. So eventually you going to get knocked down, but the response is the most important thing.\u201d<\/p>\n So far Jones has not responded in the way most figured.<\/p>\n His struggling season \u2014 at least by the lofty bar Jones has set \u2014 was symbolized by the Jacksonville Jaguars\u2019 last offensive play to win 31-28 on\u00a0<\/p>\n Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence fell twice but still ran in for the game-winning score, and Jones\u00a0did not run to the ball.<\/p>\n To Jones\u2019 credit, though, he was a stand-up person who owned up to his mistake.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a teaching point for me,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t think the play is over. You know what I mean? It\u2019s a learning lesson. I thought it was over. I thought we had him down. So I kind of stopped and was about to celebrate and then realized that he wasn\u2019t down.\u201d<\/p>\n That loss to the Jaguars was the most surprising of the season for the 5-4 Chiefs, but a clear path to their 10th straight AFC West title remains.<\/p>\n And with a pivotal game Sunday against the first-place Denver Broncos, the Chiefs could use a vintage performance from Jones more than ever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The\u00a0Detroit Lions\u00a0bounced back from their loss to the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0in Week 9 with a\u00a0stunning 44-22 win\u00a0over the\u00a0Washington Commanders\u00a0on Sunday, November 9, on the road. The win felt extra good because the Lions famously…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t