Detroit Lions set records in Sunday's blowout over Jacksonville Jaguars
(CBS DETROIT) - The Detroit Lions (9-1) are on fire this season, and they are setting records along the way.
Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars (2-9) ended with the Lions winning 52-6, the first time the team has won nine of its first ten games of a season in 90 years. In addition to the victory, the team had impressive stats: 38 first downs and 645 total yards, the most in a single game for the franchise.
According to the NFL, the team is now the third in the Super Bowl era with three wins of 35-plus points in the first 10 games of a season (the Lions won 52-14 against the Titans 52-14 and against the Cowboys 47-9). Detroit joins the 1973 Atlanta Falcons and the 1969 Minnesota Vikings.
They are also the fifth team to score 50 or more points in consecutive home games in a single season. NFL officials say the last team to do it was the 2014 Green Bay Packers.
"When you have talented football players, and they are made of the right kind of stuff ... and those guys come together, you have a collective willpower that you can make the game any way that you want it to go," coach Dan Campbell told the team during Sunday's locker room celebration. "You can do that. That's exactly what you guys did."
The Lions came back dominating after a rough battle against the Houston Texans last week. The team fell behind in the first half, but returned with aggression and accumulated 19 unanswered points to clinch a 26-23 win.
Campbell says Sunday's victory was a big team effort, from the offensive line, which scored points during every drive, to the defensive team, which prevented the Jaguars from scoring a single touchdown, along with star kicker Jake Bates, who has not missed an extra point attempt since Week 3.
"When our O-line plays that way, it doesn't matter what we call, what we do, we can do anything. They played at a really high level and they finished. They started it and they finished," Campbell told reporters on Monday. "On the other side of the ball, our D-line really showed up, shut that run game down."
The Lions are now considered the betting favorites to win the Super Bowl. As of Monday afternoon, BetMGM's Super Bowl 59 odds have Detroit at +310 and the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas Chiefs at +450.
Detroit hopes to keep its winning streak going as it prepares to travel to Indianapolis to face the Colts. Kickoff is 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 24.
