For the third road game in a row, they showed up in droves. For the second straight game at Lambeau, they painted the place blue. "They're the best, man," said Jared Goff. "They are the best." Like their team, Lions fans are making themselves heard.
"They show out tonight, on the Sunday Night Football game last year, that's a feeling that's unlike any other when you’re walking off that field and they’re cheering like that on the road," Goff said after the Lions' 34-20 win over the Packers Thursday night. "Especially when you think about from where we’ve come, it's a pretty good feeling. We gotta keep winning for 'em."
They descended on Lambeau in last year's season finale and again on Thursday night, in a place where the Lions once lost 24 games in a row. In between, they also took over Arrowhead Stadium on a night that was supposed to be a party for the Chiefs. Gazing at the stands after Thursday night's win, Penei Sewell shook his head and said, "Man, look at all the blue! This Ford Field!"
Throughout the night, chants of "Let's Go Lions!" filled the air. They were especially loud when the fans joined forces behind Detroit's sideline after the game. On the Amazon postgame show, host Charissa Thompson had to yell to be heard: "I feel like I'm screaming right now. You would think that we were in Detroit, with these fans."
"Nuts!" said Tony Gonzalez.
"Unbelievable," said Richard Sherman.
"We got a fanbase," said Dan Campbell, who's spent the last 25 years of his life in the NFL. "It’s what you always think of, player and coach, man."
Campbell said that "no matter where I’ve been," the great fanbases like "the Steelers, the Raiders, all these teams" always show up on the road. They can be seen and heard, and felt, in enemy territory. "And man, you're starting to notice it," said Campbell. "It's like, OK, here we go, man."
"We go out to Arrowhead, there’s a big fan base. We come out here, man, and we remember last year, but you look and you see them and once again, early in the fourth quarter, late in the third, you could start hearing them and they’re overpowering the stadium," Campbell said. "It’s awesome. You feel like there’s a little piece of home no matter where you go."