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BALTIMORE -- Back and forth they went for nearly three quarters, exchanging jabs, feeling each other out: two prizefighters under the lights of "Monday Night Football."

When he took the Lions job, Dan Campbell promised to field a team that could take a punch and get back up, a team that, famously, would "bite a kneecap off" and keep fighting until it was the last one standing.

So when David Montgomery finally ripped off that big run -- a 72-yarder -- in the third quarter and Jahmyr Gibbs scored a touchdown four plays later on a crafty fourth-down play call from offensive coordinator John Morton and perfect execution from the players, it was Campbell's prophecy turning true.

When Aidan Hutchinson stripped Derrick Henry in the fourth quarter on the type of high-effort play that has come to define this team, and really this entire organization, it was Campbell's prophecy turning true.

When Jared Goff connected with Amon-Ra St. Brown for 20 yards on fourth-and-2 near midfield and Montgomery scored on a 31-yard rumble the very next play to seal the game, it was Campbell's prophecy turning true.

The Lions were the last team standing at M&T Bank Field, their 38-30 win over the Ravens proving that this is a team that embodies their head coach and their culture -- bold, tough, poised, smart, relentless -- even if some of the players and coaching staff change.

"He walks it every day," Montgomery said. "Coach Campbell's always the first in and the last out. He holds everyone accountable, but he holds himself accountable the most. When you're getting led by someone like that, it's easy for you to follow.

"And you got a team full of the guys that like that, selfless individuals ... You get in a place where you're able to have some selfless guys when you show a lot of humility and have gratitude for the game before each other. I feel like you can create something special."

Montgomery, who had 12 carries for 151 yards and two touchdowns, is the perfect encapsulation. His 72-yarder featured a hole right up the gut and Penei Sewell driving Roquan Smith nearly 10 yards downfield.

Sewell is a star, but the little-known guards, Christian Mahogany and Tate Ratledge, also starred Monday night. Detroit rushed for 224 yards; 186 of them came on runs behind thew guards or center according to Pro Football Focus. Furthermore, Goff didn't take a single sack, and he was only hit five times.

"In particular, those two guards starting to really understand it and really put it together," Goff said. "... Those two guys, they're starting to figure it out, and they're playing really well, understanding the speed of the game, understanding little nuances."

A 27-13 Week 1 defeat to the Packers begged questions regarding how the departures of former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson (Bears) and former defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn (Jets) and several offensive lineman might change Detroit's trajectory.

Well, how's this for a response? In the two games since, the Lions have scored 90 points, tying the most in franchise history in a two-game span. The defense, meanwhile, sacked Lamar Jackson seven times -- tied for the most in Jackson's career -- and limited the Ravens to just 85 rushing yards. Goff credited Morton for small tweaks in both the run and the pass game, and Campbell credited his entire coaching staff.

"To be able to come in here on a Monday night at their place with those weapons, that type of team, that's a good win for us, you know?" Campbell said. "I don't know 'Statement,' all this and that, but it just feels good to know against a type of team like that, you play a different type of game and you're able to find a way to win."

As the offense surged late with a no-nonsense ground game and a fearless passing game, the defense began to take over. Hutchinson's strip of Henry was equal parts hard work, smarts and skill.

"We had a play where I kind of went upfield, and I was tracking him back, and I saw that ball cradling a bit, and I put my head down and just threw the biggest hook I could," Hutchinson said. "... I've never actually done that before, where I got a clean punch out like that on a ball carrier, so that was a lot of fun. That was really really cool."

Six different players had at least half a sack. Al-Quadin Muhammad had 2.5, but maybe his biggest play was chasing down Jackson on a third and 12, leading to a Ravens punt with five minutes to go. It was an outstanding team-wide effort; in the second half, Jackson took six sacks and managed just 10 rushing yards. He had no escape, and that was by design.

"Wednesday, we had Malik [Cunningham] running quarterback, and he had some big, some big -- he had a big day at practice," Campbell said, smiling. "He had a big day, and that opens your eyes a little bit. You coach it up, you tweak a couple things ... Come out Thursday, and it's better, but we're still like, 'Man, this guy's running around, and we can't get him contained. And by Friday, you're pretty good. I felt really good about what we were gonna be able to do.

"It takes an enormous amount of discipline from your guys, and they did that across the board, all of them."

Campbell said he talked to his team before the season about winning different ways. In Week 2, it was an explosive passing offense. Monday, it was the ground game. The Lions had touchdown drives of 98 and 96 yards, the first team to have multiple 90-yard drives in a single game against Baltimore since 2012. That's the organizational tenet of toughness showing up when it matters most.

"Those guys up front tonight were incredible," Goff said. "They were grinding. They were tired on some of those long drives, and the defensive line was more tired. It was good to see them keep pushing, keep going, and those were huge drives."

Campbell instills the culture, but it's up to the players to uphold it. Monday night, that was St.-Brown taking as much pride in his huge catches as his blocks downfield, Hutchinson hustling back to force the only turnover of the night, Sewell mauling a fellow Pro Bowler. It leads to a trickle-down effect in the best of ways.

"Our hardest workers are our best players," Campbell said. "It's not lip service. It's not fake. Our best players are our hardest workers. Go out and watch them practice. It's like that every day. That's the standard. If you're not up to that standard with the effort matching, what our best players do, then you're not going to be around here very long. That makes the rest of your guys just fall in line, anybody that comes in or we acquire, the young guys, all of it, and that's the way we play. That's what we do."

And that's what they'll continue to do with Campbell and this core. Don't call wins like Monday's a statement. To the Lions, complete performances like this are the norm.