The Lions are preparing for a rematch on Sunday night with Matthew Stafford and the Rams.

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Lions know they need to put the 2023 season behind them and focus on 2024.

It won’t be easy.

Detroit opens its season on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Rams in a rematch of the wild-card game in January in which the Lions earned their first playoff victory in 40 years.

It’s another night game on national television, and another meeting with the Lions’ pre-Dan Campbell icon, Matthew Stafford. Booed on every play, Stafford dominated his former team, passing for 367 yards and two touchdowns, but Detroit escaped with a 24-23 win.

The Lions then defeated Tampa Bay and then blew a significant lead to San Francisco in the NFC Finals.

Eight months later, it was the Rams’ turn again.

“It couldn’t be better — it really couldn’t be better,” Campbell said Monday. “The hardest part is we still have seven days, but I’m excited, the staff is excited, the players are excited, and I know our fans are ready to go.”

Recently, many fans have spoken of their respect for Stafford — the greatest quarterback in franchise history — and insisted they were booing him only because of the scale of the situation. The idea was that the Rams would come to Detroit for a regular-season game and he would get the kind of reaction former Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander gets when he returns to Comerica Park.

It probably won’t happen on Sunday night in Week 1; he’s still a player who needs to be stopped.

Rams coach Sean McVay “changed the way we traditionally played last year a little bit — a little bit more of a downhill approach,” said Campbell, who is entering his fourth season as Lions coach. “That gave Stafford some momentum and allowed him to do what he does best, and that’s the recipe for winning. We have to be absolutely fired up and ready to go.”

The good news for the Lions is that the Rams no longer have a Hall of Famer in the middle of their defense. Aaron Donald’s retirement at age 32 ends a lot of sleepless nights for offensive coordinators.

“You always had to be aware of him, you had to know where he was at all times,” Campbell said. “You were moving and gesturing just for him, and you were damn close to doing that on every play, and you were trying to throw to one side so the defender could help the defender, so the defender could help the center with Donald.

“It’s nice not having to worry about him.”

The Lions have never played in the Super Bowl — their last appearance in the NFL championship game was in 1957 — but Campbell has been vocal about Sunday being another step toward achieving that goal.

“It doesn’t matter now to talk about it,” he said. “The first step is to win the division, and once you do that, it’s about seeding. Do you want to be the third seed, the two seed, even the one seed? You have to start winning head-to-head games, and this is an NFC opponent that can win the West.

“It’s still a long way off, but that’s when you start to organize everything.”

___

NFL News: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl