DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – All the hard work, Hard Knocks exposure, and planning for the 2022 season kicks off on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. hosting Philadelphia. The momentum of the end of last season along with excitement from the NFL Draft has led to the 2022 opener in Detroit.

“We are a lot better team than we were last year at this time,” says head coach Dan Campbell. “We haven’t hid from it (the loss to Philadelphia). It was embarrassing. It was an embarrassing loss. They let us have it. They rubbed our nose in it. They came in, and everything they wanted to do, they did it – times 10. We’ve acknowledged that. We understand that.”

MORE NEWS: A New Day: Michigan House Republicans Select New Leader

As the leader of the team, Campbell has set his team up for the opener preparing them for a new beginning in 2022. The addition of several draft picks and added free agency has put Detroit in a position to be in the middle of the pack for their division.

For Detroit to have a chance to win the game the offense will need to show up. The run game will have to be present as last year Philadelphia dominated Detroit with 236 yards rushing and four touchdowns. Detroit will need to keep pace with what the Eagles do. Along with that, Jared Goff needs to not be hit as the offensive line gave up six sacks. The advantage this year that Detroit can lean is home field advantage. The preseason games and practices showed that the fans love this team and are ready for a winning season.

Top draft pick Aidan Hutchinson says, “Philly has one of the best rushing attacks in the league, especially with Jalen (Hurts) at quarterback, they’ve got a lot of dangerous people, and if we’re going to have any success in this game, we’ve got to stop that run first.”

The support for the team will be there on Sunday as the Lions have sold out for the game. It is the first sell out since 2017 on a non-Thanksgiving day game. The game will be on Fox and seen in Detroit, parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and Texas.