Amon-Ra St. Brown Explains Detroit Lions’ Resurgence And Details His Partnership With Kroger Brand

Amon Ra St. Brown opens up on the Detroit Lions’ 8-2 hot start to the season and his partnership … [+] with Kroger Brand. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Amon-Ra St. Brown is a big reason why the Detroit Lions are soaring.

Through their first 10 games, the Lions hold an 8-2 record — the first time in franchise history since 1962 — and are threatening the Philadelphia Eagles for the top seed in the NFC.

The third-year player is currently having one of the best seasons of any wide receiver in the NFL, posting 73 receptions (seventh) for 898 receiving yards (fifth) and five touchdowns. St. Brown has posted five consecutive games of at least six receptions and had recently racked up four consecutive games of at least 102 receiving yards.

It’s no coincidence the Lions have gone 6-1 during that stretch, with their most recent win being a 31-26 victory over the Chicago Bears after trailing by 12 points with a little over four minutes remaining in the game.

After coming off of the best fourth quarter comeback this season — teams had previously gone 0-83 while trailing by double digits with four minutes remaining in games this season — it’s not a stretch to say the Lions could finish the season with the No. 1 seed, something that St. Brown says is an objective for Detroit.

“I think so,” says St. Brown on aiming to clinch the top seed in the conference. “We just got to take it week by week. But being able to get a first round bye and secure home field advantage throughout the whole playoffs would be huge.”

As the Lions embark on their quest for their first-ever Super Bowl appearance, St. Brown is keeping a little busy off of the field by teaming up with Kroger Brand to show off his chicken schnitzel slider recipe. St. Brown — along with fellow receivers Tee Higgins and Tank Dell — are sharing their personalized take on game day recipes.

“Teamed up with Kroger brand to showcase my go-to game day recipe, the chicken schnitzel sliders,” said St. Brown. “It’s been a staple for me, watching Sundays as a kid, that was one of the things that we we made, kind of a German spin to it.”

St. Brown explains that it’s not only a simple recipe, but it’s a tasty one where you can enjoys the buns by itself.

“It’s not a hard recipe,” says St. Brown. “The sliders, the buns you can eat by themselves. They’re that good. But just being able to cook something up real quick. It’s always super nice.”

As far as on the field, the Lions haven’t received as much as praise as fellow elite teams such as the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs or the Eagles. That’s despite the fact Detroit currently has the second-best record in the NFL.

Some of that lack of hype from the media may have to do with the Lions’ less-than-impressive franchise history. The franchise has just three playoff appearances since the 2000 season and hasn’t won a playoff game since the 1991 season — the longest drought in the NFL.

Despite the lack of attention, the Lions star isn’t concerned with whether or not Detroit gets credit from the media for their hot start.

“It is what it is,” St. Brown said of the media’s lack of attention on the Lions’ hot start. “We can’t change that. We can only control what’s now. So for us, we’re not really worried about what others think. We know who we are, we know what we are. And for us it’s just winning, trying to win every week and hopefully getting to the playoffs. And once you get in the playoffs, anything can happen.”

Some of the lack of media attention may have to do with the fact that the Lions haven’t faced the strongest set of opponents so far this season. Their strength of schedule ranks 24th. Outside of their season-opening win over the Kansas City Chiefs, the Lions don’t have a single win over a team with a winning record.

That schedule will obviously get a bit tougher over the remaining seven-game stretch of the regular season, facing five teams with at least a .500 record. However, the Lions are 16-4 since last November, matching the Chiefs and Eagles for the best record over that stretch.

During St. Brown’s first season in Detroit, the team went 3-13. However, they bounced back to threaten for a playoff spot by going 8-2 in their final 10 games last season.

Despite the franchise’s quick turnaround, the 24-year-old receiver isn’t surprised at all as the team has gone from being a three-win team into an elite squad in just two seasons.

“Not really,” said St. Brown on whether or not he’s surprised by the team’s success this season. “Last year when we started off 1-6, we knew we had a pretty good team. We just had to finish some games and then we started doing that towards the end of the year and finished 9-8.”

St. Brown further explains why the quick turnaround isn’t surprising and what the Lions’ mindset has been since the offseason.

“We knew going into this year that we could just build off last year and we had a lot of the same players, same coaches, added some players and drafted some guys,” says St. Brown. “We were only going to get better from last year and that’s the mindset that we had in going into camp and OTAs.”

The star receiver details why the Lions have so much confidence despite being a young and inexperienced team compared to their elite rivals.

“Starting this year off, we beat the Chiefs in Week 1, which was a huge win for us,” says St. Brown. “That gave us that momentum, that feeling that we can beat any team in this league. That’s the attitude we’ve had all year is we feel like we can win every game if we’re executing, taking care of the ball and doing the things that we need to do.”

While the Lions certainly have no shortage of great players — St. Brown, Jared Goff, Aidan Hutchinson — a big reason for their success is none other than head coach Dan Campbell. Although the former tight end previously served as a short-term interim head coach for the Miami Dolphins, he became a permanent head coach for the first time when he was hired by the Lions before the start of the 2021 season.

After a rough first year and questions on whether or not he could be a successful head coach, Campbell has proven everyone wrong and has the Lions positioned for a potential deep playoff run — if not a possible Super Bowl, a game the Lions have never advanced to in their franchise history.

“He’s a leader,” St. Brown says of Campbell. “That’s first and foremost as a head coach, you have to be a really good leader and that’s what he is. We listen to him, we we trust him. We believe in him. He takes care of us, whether it’s on on the practice field, the schedule, whatever it is, he’s always has a player’s best interest.”

Most importantly, Campbell’s toughness resonates with the team, something that was on full display as the Lions overcame improbable odds in their 31-26 comeback win over the Bears.

“He’s tough,” says St. Brown of Campbell. “I think his toughness permeates through our team. And we want to play for him, play the same way that he coaches us and I think it really resonates with us.”

With St. Brown quickly emerging as one of the top receivers and Campbell establishing himself as one of the top head coaches in the NFL, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Lions not only make a deep playoff run this year — but possibly emerge as the NFC team in the Super Bowl.