After a 12-win season that crested in their first division title in 30 years, and now, a spot in the NFC championship game, the Lions are in the running for some lofty awards.
Leading the way is Dan Campbell, who's been nominated for AP Coach of the Year. Campbell, in his third season in Detroit, hit the target he set for the team at the end of last season of winning the NFC North. The Lions sewed it up in Week 16 by beating the defending champion Vikings in Minnesota. They were one of only four 12-win teams in the NFL, and they've now won 14 games for the first time in franchise history.
Campbell is one of five finalists for the award along with DeMeco Ryans of the Texans, who led Houston to a 10-win season and a playoff victory after taking over a three-win team; Kevin Stefanski of the Browns, who won 11 games despite playing without star running back Nick Chubb and quarterback DeShaun Watson for most of the season; John Harbaugh of the Ravens, the best team in the NFL with a reimagined offense around MVP candidate Lamar Jackson; and Kyle Shanahan of the 49ers, the best team in the NFC who will host the Lions on Sunday for a spot in the Super Bowl.
Elsewhere on Campbell's staff, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has been nominated for AP Assistant Coach of the Year for the second season in a row. He engineered a top-five offense in scoring, passing and rushing, and is one of the hottest head coaching candidates on the market. Johnson was beaten out for the award last year by Ryans, at the time the defensive coordinator of the 49ers.
Johnson's fellow nominees are Brown defensive coordinator and former Lions head coach Jim Schwartz, whose unit ranked first in the NFL; Ravens DC and former Michigan DC Mike Macdonald, who led the NFL's top scoring defense; Ravens OC Todd Monken, who played a big part in Jackson's resurgence as one of the best quarterbacks in the game; and Texans OC Bobby Slowik, who helped rookie quarterback CJ Stroud take the NFL by storm.
On the playing side, the Lions had running back Jahmyr Gibbs and tight end Sam LaPorta nominated for AP Offensive Rookie of the Year. Gibbs, the sixth overall pick, finished fifth among rookies in scrimmage yards and third among all NFL running backs in yards per carry. LaPorta, a second-round pick, broke the NFL rookie record for catches by a tight end and finished first among all tight ends in touchdowns, fourth in catches and fifth in yards.
Gibbs and LaPorta are up against a strong group of finalists, headlined by Stroud. The No. 2 pick led the resurgent Texans to the AFC South title while leading the NFL in passing yards per game. He threw 23 touchdowns to five picks and had a passer rating of 100.8.
The other nominees are Rams receiver and fifth-round pick Puka Nacua, who finished first among rookies and fourth in the NFL in receiving yards, and Falcons running back and eighth overall pick Bijan Robinson, who finished second among rookies to Nacua and 10th in the NFL in scrimmage yards.