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The Detroit Lions became a force towards the end of the 2022 season, winning eight of their final 10 games and for wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who finished his second year with a Pro Bowl nod, the goal for next season is clear: playoffs.
St. Brown, a fourth round pick out of USC in 2021, told the Detroit Free Press last week that the Lions’ performance late last season created a reputation that they were now the team to beat – a reputation that comes with mixed emotions.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, #14 of the Detroit Lions, avoids a tackle by Shaq Thompson, #7 of the Carolina Panthers, during the fourth quarter of the game at Bank of America Stadium on Dec. 24, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
"I talk to other players, they told me like, ‘Man, you guys were rolling towards the end. We did not want to play you in the playoffs,’" St. Brown told the outlet.
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"So teams know now. We’re not no walk-over team now. I think that’s just going to make it tougher for us this season, but it’s just going to make it more fun because I feel like teams sometimes in the past, my rookie year, they’d come into our stadium thinking it was just going to be an easy game for them they’re going to go win. And maybe that was the case, maybe it wasn’t."
He continued, "But I feel like moving forward for us, we got to know that teams are going to be on their A-game when they play us, so we’ll be ready for it."
Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, #14, is tackled by Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, #97, during the second half of an NFL football game in Detroit, Michigan USA, on Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022. (Jorge Lemus/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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St. Brown was selected to his first Pro Bowl last season as an alternate after hauling in 106 receptions for 1,161 yards for six touchdowns. He also broke the franchise record for the youngest receiver with a 1,000 yard season in December, topping the record previously set by Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson.
"I feel like for me, like moving forward, obviously I have my personal goals but what I really want to do this year is I just, I know we won a few games last year, we finished pretty strong, but man, I want to go to the playoffs bad," St. Brown said.
"I feel like Detroit as a city, they want it so bad. I feel like as a team we want it bad. I feel like we got the guys to do it, so I’m just excited to start winning games consistently, week in and week out."
Amon-Ra St. Brown, #14 of the Detroit Lions, greets fans after defeating the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Jan. 8, 2023 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
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The Lions finished 9-8 for the franchise’s first winning record since 2017. They have addressed some of their defensive needs in the offseason and bolstered up their offense with the signing of former wideout Marvin Jones.
Even Jones, who played for the team from 2016 to 2020, has noticed a change.
"I played against this team — it’s different," Jones said earlier this month. "The organization is different in terms of the culture and things like that. That was intriguing."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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