Ben Johnson: Dan Campbell hasn't shied away from the high expectations

At 12-1 entering Week 15, no one has been playing better football than the Lions this season.

Currently in the driver’s seat for the NFC’s No. 1 seed, Detroit will have another tough challenge in playing Buffalo on Sunday. But the club has gotten up for practically every matchup this year.

According to offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, one of the reasons why is how head coach Dan Campbell has approached things each week.

“I honestly — I don’t think I’ve seen any change from him in his leadership style,” Johnson said in his Thursday news conference. “I do think this, what I’ve seen this year as opposed to prior years is, he has not shied away from the high expectations, and for a guy that really hasn’t been in this position before, I cringe a little bit just looking at it and seeing it all take place, but now, as I’m watching it unfold, I’m like, ‘Man, it was a beautiful thing.’ Because our guys, he knows who they are, what they’re made of, and they’ve really risen to the challenge up to this point of the season. And they love having the target on their back, we know we’re getting everybody’s best shot right now, and I think coach Campbell’s a big reason why we are so prepared each week.

“We haven’t — over the last few years we’ve had a dud game that kind of gets sprinkled into the season and, fortunately, so far this year we really haven’t had that, or if we have had it, we’ve been able to overcome that dud game and still come out on top at the end. So, I don’t know that I’ve seen anything different from him in his approach, but it was certainly interesting to see how much he’s embraced it and said, ‘Hey, let’s go.’”

Johnson added that there’s “no doubt” that how Campbell has embraced the high expectations has trickled down positively on the rest of the coaching staff.

“I’ll say, personally, I’m always, early in the week, a little bit on edge about, ‘I need to get through all the tape, I need to see our guys go through practice, I need to see the plays,’” Johnson said. “End of the week, I’m usually confident and then he’ll come into that first staff meeting and, no matter how you’re feeling, ‘Hey, we’re going to get after this crew.’ And it kind of alleviates any anxiety you might have early in the week. He can always see how he wants this game to play out with all three phases, he’s already there.

“So yeah, he uplifts all of us.”

And it’s worked well, as the Lions go into Week 15 at No. 1 in points scored and No. 2 in points allowed. We’ll see how the team is able to perform against one of the AFC’s top competitors in the Bills on Sunday.