Before safety Brian Branch became a key figure for the Detroit Lions, a team many have picked to play in Super Bowl LIX, he featured for an Alabama Crimson Tide program led by legendary head coach Nick Saban.
During a recent appearance on NFL Network’s “The Insiders” program, Branch echoed one of Saban’s better-known phrases while discussing what analysts and fans are predicting will occur when the top-seeded Lions host the Washington Commanders in a divisional-round playoff matchup on Saturday.
“We know it’s all rat poison,” Branch said, NFL.com’s Kevin Patra shared. “We don’t really pay attention to the outside noise. We know what we are capable of doing. We just want to prove it to ourselves that, who we are, that’s who we are. I feel like we don’t pay attention to the outside noise at all.”
The Lions began the 2023 season as media darlings, and they went 12-5 before they advanced to the NFC Championship Game. It’s possible Detroit would’ve won that contest had head coach Dan Campbell not been so aggressive in certain instances. Some suggested as far back as last winter that the 2024 Lions needed to enter this past September with a “Super Bowl or bust” mindset.
Detroit was as good, if not better than advertised, as the club won 15 of 17 regular-season games to claim the NFC North division title and the No. 1 seed for the conference’s portion of the postseason tournament. As of Friday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Lions as 8.5-point favorites over a Commanders side that earned an upset 23-20 wild-card playoff win at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday night.
“The vibes are immaculate,” Branch added. “I feel like everybody is on the same page here. We are hungry more than ever. We have been in this moment before. This time, we are trying to finish it.”
Also, on Friday, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Lions as the overall betting favorites at +275 odds to win Super Bowl LIX. It sounds like Branch and others in the Detroit locker room will do whatever possible to ignore such forecasts for as long as they’re playing this winter.