DETROIT — Lions coach Dan Campbell said this season’s team is his best in five years.

If that ends up being accurate, it would be quite a feat. Detroit won a franchise-record 15 games last season, a year after having a 17-point, third-quarter lead in the NFC championship game before blowing it at San Francisco.

The Lions' injury-depleted defense led to a loss against Washington last January in the divisional round as the conference’s top-seeded team. Campbell, though, is the most optimistic he has been since being hired to turn around the franchise in 2021. It will be tough to top last year's number of wins because of the team’s difficult schedule.

The two-time defending NFC North champions have nine road games and their non-division matchups will be challenging against Baltimore, Cinci

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