The Detroit Lions have finished ahead of the Green Bay Packers in each of the last two seasons. That doesn’t seem to be sitting well with Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst.
The Green Bay general manager appeared irritated after being asked at the NFL combine about chasing the Lions in the NFC North.
“Around here, we’ve never hung banners for division championships, so it’s never been about that,” Gutekunst told reporters on February 27, according to The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman. “It’s a nice starting point, but I think we’re always looking for bigger things.”
Schniedman stated on X (previously Twitter) that he did not take the comment as a dig at the Lions. However, MLive.com’s Benjamin Raven claimed that any Lions fan would find it difficult to believe that.
“Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst might not have been intentionally trying to take a shot at their division rivals and the reigning NFC North champions,” he wrote. “But it’s hard not to take his recent comments that way from the scouting combine.”
The Lions unfurled a banner commemorating their 2023 NFC North title at Ford Field and their practice facility.
Brian Gutekunst was asked today about chasing the Lions: "Around here, we’ve never hung banners for division championships, so it’s never been about that. It’s a nice starting point, but I think we’re always looking for bigger things."
I don't think he was taking a shot, but… https://t.co/4wgCPmOKXI
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) February 27, 2024
Lions End Division Title Drought.
Before the 2023 season, when the Lions last won a division title, the NFC North did not exist. Detroit won the NFC Central title in 1993, therefore several of the guys on the roster were not even alive when the Lions last won a division championship.
Obviously, winning division championships is not the ultimate goal. No member of the Lions Club has stated that it is.
However, winning a division title is still an accomplishment, and if a team hasn’t done it in a while, it’s worth celebrating.
In the case of the Packers, they won 15 division titles between 1994 and 2021. With such achievement, expectations expanded beyond just winning a division title.
Naturally, the Packers have not raised a banner for each division championship.
Neither celebrating division titles nor dismissing them is an incorrect strategy. That’s because each is based on a team’s expectations and previous successes.
“In Green Bay, it’s a yearly expectation at this point, and no amount of erased generational demons by the Lions can change that fact,” Raven wrote in a blog post.
“That said, the Lions are in a very different situation than the Packers, with a fervent and hungry fan base screaming for anything like a winner. They just won their first division title in more than 30 years, winning multiple playoff games in the same season for the first time in the Super Bowl era, and are just 30 minutes away from playing in the Super Bowl.”
Lions-Packers Is rivalry growing?
The Lions and Packers have been division rivals since 1933, when the league’s inaugural divisions were established. For much of the Super Bowl era, however, the rivalry has been one-sided.
However, under Detroit head coach Dan Campbell, the Lions-Packers rivalry appears to be developing in recent years. Although Green Bay won their most recent rivalry game at Ford Field on Thanksgiving, the Lions had previously beaten the Packers four times in a row.
In Week 18 of the 2022 season, the Lions defeated the Packers 20-16 at Lambeau Field, eliminating Green Bay from postseason contention.
Looking ahead to 2024 and beyond, the Lions and Packers have the division’s most complete rosters. If Kirk Cousins leaves the Minnesota Vikings, the Lions and Packers will undoubtedly have the best two quarterbacks in the NFC North.
That might imply the Lions and Packers will compete for the division title in the near future. Even if Gutekunst wishes to downplay the significance of a division championship, that should be an intense battle.
