Holly Campbell Steals the Show with “Biting Kneecaps” Bling

The Detroit Lions edged out the Chicago Bears 23-20 on Thanksgiving Day in a nail-biter at Ford Field. While the thrilling victory marked the end of Bears coach Matt Eberflus’ tenure, the game was equally notable for the off-field flair and personal touches from Lions players, their families, and even coach Dan Campbell’s wife, Holly.

Cleats Steal the Show

Running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery made a statement with custom cleats inspired by the classic video game Sonic & Knuckles. The vibrant designs added a playful touch to the field while reflecting the players’ personalities.

Family Celebrations on the Sidelines

The Lions’ sense of family shone brightly, with offensive tackle Penei Sewell and linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez accompanied by their wives, Isabelle and Kennedy, who proudly displayed their baby bumps on the sidelines. Their presence underscored the tight-knit nature of the team and its support system.

Holly Campbell’s Tribute to Dan’s Legacy

Holly Campbell, the wife of Lions head coach Dan Campbell, turned heads online with her custom jewelry. She shared a bracelet on Instagram featuring her husband’s iconic “biting kneecaps” mantra, a phrase that has become synonymous with the team’s gritty identity since Campbell’s fiery introduction as head coach in 2021.

“This team’s going to be built on: we’re going to kick you in the teeth, alright, and when you punch us back, we’re going to smile at you,” Campbell famously declared during his hiring press conference.

A Team on the Rise

The Lions have embraced Campbell’s resilience-driven ethos, transforming from perennial underdogs to NFC North contenders. Their division title in 2023 marked the franchise’s first since 1993, cementing Campbell’s place in Detroit lore.

The Thanksgiving win over Chicago further showcased the Lions’ growth, both on and off the field, proving that this team is as much about heart and community as it is about football.

From stylish cleats to symbolic jewelry, the Lions have found ways to celebrate victories in more ways than one.

Lions Thanksgiving grades: The Detroit Lions escaped what would’ve been a brutal collapse vs. the Bears.

But there was still more good than bad on Thanksgiving. Let’s hand out some grades.

For the second time this season (Texans game), it was a story of two very different halves for the Detroit Lions on gameday. The first half was utterly dominant against the Chicago Bears, but it was overshadowed by a collapse that nearly cost them the game.

When grading a game like this, it’s important to not overlook both the good and the bad. Because, in the end, the Lions not only got the win, but they outgained the Bears pretty handily both overall (405 vs. 301) and on a per play basis (5.9 vs. 5.1).

Still, there’s plenty to clean up. So let’s hand out some Thanksgiving grades.

Quarterback: B

Jared Goff’s final statline was pretty modest: 21-of-34 for 221 yards, two touchdowns and a 100.2 passer rating. Like for most of the season, Goff did a great job avoiding negative plays and throwing the ball away when he needed to. That said, it did feel like he missed some checkdown opportunities where the Bears were seemingly okay in giving up. Instead, he held onto the ball looking for the perfect play to emerge.

Still, in a game that was as close as it was, not making the fatal mistake at any point in this game turned out to be a pretty huge deal.

Running backs: B+

This would have been an A+ day for the backs had it not been for Jahmyr Gibbs’ costly fumble in the red zone. Detroit was on their way to putting the Bears down 23 points in the first half when Gibbs’ fumble happened. There likely would not have been any late-game dramatics had he held onto the ball. So I’m docking significant points for just that one play.

That said, the duo of Gibbs and David Montgomery was fantastic for the rest of the game. They combined for 175 rushing yards on just 30 carries (5.8 YPC) and added five catches for 53 yards in the receiving game. Neither found the end zone, but that was more due to some questionable red zone calls (more on that later).

Wide receivers: B-

Again, a strong day from this group was marred by a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes. Jameson Williams was electric with the ball in his hands, but his day was overshadowed by a lose-your-cool moment that cost the Lions 15 yards. He was also flagged for a crackback block, although I didn’t personally agree with that call.

Amon-Ra St. Brown turned five catches into 73 yards, but a holding penalty in the red zone moved the Lions from the 2-yard line to the 14, eventually leading to a field goal instead of a prime touchdown opportunity.

Tim Patrick continues to be a very strong weapon for this team, though. Though he only had two catches, both were explosive plays: gains of 30 and 18 yards.

Tight ends: A

Sam LaPorta only had three catches for 6 yards, but two of those were for touchdowns—something that is not easy to do against a top-five red zone defense. Additionally, Brock Wright had another big play—a 13-yard catch to get a second-half drive off to a strong start.

I did not notice any blocking issues from this group upon live viewing.

Offensive line: A-

For as much warranted worry as there was with no Taylor Decker in the lineup, I thought the offensive line fared quite well. Jared Goff only took one sack and three quarterback hits. The line was also opening up massive holes in the run game early and often, leading to Detroit’s second-highest rushing total of the season (194). That said, it’s hard to overlook the Lions’ failed third-and-1 conversion late, where Montgomery had absolutely nowhere to go and actually lost a yard. I’ll only ding them half a grade there because otherwise, it was a very strong performance.

Defensive line: A-

The defensive line pressure wasn’t there consistently all game, but it certainly came up in big moments. And considering all of the injuries this group endured, this was a pretty impressive performance from a bunch of reserve players.

In fact, three of the best performances of the day came from this unit:

DJ Reader: 3 QB hits, 2.0 sacks

Za’Darius Smith: 3 QB hits, 1.5 sacks

Al-Quadin Muhammad: 1 QB hit, 1.0 sack, 1 pass defended

On top of that, D’Andre Swift was a non-factor in the run game, rushing for just 39 yards on 11 carries. Essentially, the Bears had to abandon the run completely in the second half, allowing Detroit to pin their ears back and pass rush.

Again, there were times in which the pass rush was absent for too long—which allowed receivers to get wide open—but in the clutch, this group performed.

Linebackers: B

Early on, this group was making some huge plays. Malcolm Rodriguez played a wheel route perfectly—a tough ask—picking up a pass batted down to add to his five tackles before an injury took him out of the game. Jack Campbell provided a couple of big third-down plays: first a pressure that forced a throwaway, and then he tracked down Caleb Williams to force him out of bounds 3 yards short of the sticks. Even David Long was out there making plays.

But after the Rodriguez injury, the defense took a notable step back, and some of the crossing routes over the middle became open.

Defensive backs: C+

This was the biggest difference between the first and second halves, in my opinion. In the first two quarters, the Lions secondary absolutely clamped down the Bears receivers. Williams found nobody open, and both Terrion Arnold and Kerby Joseph came up with some huge pass breakups to hold Chicago without a first down until the final seconds of the first half.

But in the second half, the Lions’ man coverage was not holding up. They weren’t helped by occasional lapses in pass rush, but it became clear as the day went on that the Bears’ talented receiving corps was too much for them. Both DJ Moore (eight catches, 97 yards, TD) and Keenan Allen (five catches, 73 yards, 2 TDs) were winning their 1-on-1s consistently in the second half. 163 of their collective 170 yards came in the final two quarters.

Special teams: B

For most of the game, special teams was just fine. After bobbling his first punt return, Maurice Alexander was just fine back there, and the Lions’ coverage team only had to deal with one return—a kickoff that was tackled well before the 30-yard line.

But this unit was defined by two key plays: one good, one bad. Jake Bates’ critical miss—his first missed field goal of the season—quite nearly cost the Lions an opportunity to put the game away. However, Jack Fox’s last punt of the game—which was downed at the Bears’ 1-yard line—turned out to be one of the most important plays. That forced the Bears to drive the entire length of the field to tie or win the game, and when you give the Bears that much rope, they’ll eventually find a way to hang themselves with it.

Coaching: B

First of all, let’s give thanks to Lions’ coaching staff for not being the Bears’ coaching staff. Matt Eberflus put up a masterclass of terrible game management at the end, and he also had a horrible challenge to go with his embarrassing day.

As for the Lions, I don’t think there was anything Dan Campbell did, in particular, that was a mistake. You could make the argument that he should have gone for it late on fourth-and-2 from his own 38-yard line—and he’s gone for it in situations like that before—but Detroit’s defense was on its heels at that point, and potentially giving them a short field would’ve been terrible. The subsequent punt was downed at the 1-yard line, so that choice worked out just about as well as it could’ve.

I don’t love criticizing play calling because it’s the easiest and laziest thing to do with the benefit of hindsight. However, it just didn’t feel like offensive coordinator Ben Johnson did himself any favors in the red zone.

It also felt like they went away from the run game in the second half. After carrying it a combined 20 times in the first quarter, Gibbs and Montgomery had just 10 carries in the second half (although, they ran far fewer offensive plays in the second half).

Still, I think the main problem with the offense in the second half was more execution based than poor play-calling, so it was overall a relatively positive day from the coaching staff.

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“But I think he’s found a place where he fits here.” Saints team mate Derek Carr speaks, on how Marquez Valdes-Scantling has found a home in New Orleans, After being cut loose in Buffalo

Carr has been where Marquez Valdes-Scantling was a few months ago, playing for a team where he no longer factored into the future plans. Carr has been cast off, unceremoniously. The situations weren’t exactly alike, because they never are, but he gets it.

They’re now New Orleans Saints teammates, and though the sample is extremely small, Carr has seen enough to say things like this:

“Some situations are better than others for each player,” Carr said of Valdes-Scantling. “Each player doesn’t fit every scheme or every organization, whatever. But I think he’s found a place where he fits here.”

After being cut loose by the Buffalo Bills earlier this season, a roster casualty after they acquired star receiver Amari Cooper via trade, Valdes-Scantling has provided a spark to a Saints offense that desperately needed one. Having played just three games in a Saints uniform, he already is tied for the team lead in receiving touchdowns (three) and is sixth in receiving (201 yards).

“I don’t know what happened (in Buffalo),” Carr said. “I just know that we got a really good football player.”

For his part, Valdes-Scantling said he bears no ill will toward the Bills. After catching two passes (on nine targets) in six games, he didn’t see a fit for himself, either.

“I went to Buffalo … with certain expectations, and they had certain expectations, and we just couldn’t get on the same page,” he said. “It just didn’t work out. Sometimes it happens. It was a mutual thing where we didn’t want to be a part of each other’s futures.”

What he wanted was a chance to impact the game in the way he knew he still could. And in New Orleans, his impact has been both obvious and subtle.

Though he’s only made six catches in a Saints uniform, he has made the absolute most out of them. He enjoyed his breakout game against the Atlanta Falcons on Nov. 10, when he hauled in passes of 67, 40 and 2 yards, with the latter two both going for scores. Valdes-Scantling followed that up a week later, when he caught two more passes for 87 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown, against the Cleveland Browns.

Explosive plays are kind of his trademark. Since his 2018 rookie season, Valdes-Scantling has 25 receptions of 40 or more yards, which is tied for fifth-most in the NFL in that span. The only names in front of him belong to superstars: Tyreek Hill, A.J. Brown, Mike Evans and Stefon Diggs.

“I’ve been in this league a long time, I’ve made a bunch of big plays in my career,” Valdes-Scantling said. “So it’s not a fluke; it’s not like I haven’t done this before.”

That he’s brought that with him to New Orleans isn’t a surprise, then. It’s exactly what the team was looking for after its usual big-play threat, Rashid Shaheed, was lost for the season with a knee injury.

And this is where the more subtle part of Valdes-Scantling’s impact comes in: The threat of him changing the game with an explosive play opens things up for the rest of the offense.

“Whether he’s getting targeted or not, you have to have a plan for him,” said interim head coach Darren Rizzi.

Take the big play Valdes-Scantling couldn’t come up with, for instance. On the first play of the fourth quarter against the Browns, the Saints dialed up a play-action shot for Valdes-Scantling. New Orleans got the perfect look for it: A single-high safety who bit hard on the underneath crosser, leaving the middle of the field open for Valdes-Scantling on the post. A better throw from Derek Carr might’ve resulted in a touchdown.

Even though Valdes-Scantling didn’t come down with it, the simple fact of that near-miss existing has a ripple effect.

“That stays in the mind of the defensive coordinator and the secondary,” Rizzi said. “Those are big deals. To have that speed element out there, knowing they have to account for him, that opens up a lot of other things. All of a sudden, if he’s getting doubled up top or we’re taking the top off the coverage, that opens up plays.”

The Saints went on to score at the end of that drive, starting a 21-0 fourth-quarter barrage.

“It’s not a secret what I do well,” Valdes-Scantling said. “… I think that speaks for itself. It affects how defenses look at you. It brings some eyes to my side of the field, and if I can open up somebody else underneath, or open up the run game or anything else that we’re doing, I think that it’s working.”