The Detroit Lions — the Lions! — just may become this year’s Super Bowl Champions.

It’s time for everyone to face that reality.

Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes have spent three years building a mentally- and physically-tough powerhouse of a roster. So much has gone into this, too. From the Jared Goff trade to building an ass-kicking offensive line, to resetting the secondary to — above all — seeking a specific DNA in players. (Links to stories below.) The time is now for a franchise that’s toiled in the NFC basement.

Detroit’s 20-6 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wasn’t necessarily pretty. But, once again, the Lions proved to make the sort of hustle plays you won’t see on other teams.

Like, say, from Chicago Bears rookie Darnell Wright on a Vikings fumble recovery.

On this episode of the “Ty & Bob Pod” with our resident Hall of Fame sports writer Bob McGinn, we analyze the Lions’ win over Tampa Bay and what makes this a legitimate contender. We then try to make sense of that messy Vikings-Bears game, and think big picture on the Vikes. Where should GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell go from here? How the Vikings perform against the San Francisco 49ers this Sunday night could dictate the terms of their season.

We cap with Cowboys-Chargers talk. Contrary to a media talking point this week, McGinn isn’t impressed with quarterback Dak Prescott.

Finally, this week’s “McGinn Memory” turns the clock back to 1984, to a classic snow globe of a Packers game.

Go Long subscribers can always access all stories and all podcasts:

Also, we’ve been growing our Go Long TD YouTube page. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to catch clips from all three podcasts (“FAVRE,” “Ty & Bob,” “Go Long Show”), all Zoom Happy Hours and 1-on-1 interviews with the likes of Matt Hasselbeck, Drew Bledsoe and future guests.

It’s about time we got to your Mailbag questions. Will post in the AM. Have a question? Email me at [email protected].

Thanks, everyone.

Lions Links:

DNA of the Lions, Part I: Vanquishing 'bad juju'

DNA of the Lions, Part II: The obsessed ones

'The Problem' is The Future

The Detroit Lions Must Break You, Part I: Life and death

The Detroit Lions Must Break You, Part II: Bringing the pain

Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions miracle worker

'There is only one Barry Sanders'

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