Lions have work cut out for them in Week 2 test at Bills | Podcast
Lions beat writers Nolan Bianchi and Richard Silva preview Detroit’s Week 2 game against the Buffalo Bills, a matchup between a couple of the NFL’s top offenses.
ALLEN PARK — With two Power Four universities in the state, linebacker Joe Bachie is the lone Michigan State alum on the Detroit Lions, a team with considerable star power drafted from that other school in Ann Arbor.
Bachie, now in his seventh NFL season, played for the Spartans under Mark Dantonio from 2016-19, and told The Detroit News that he’s not only loving the feeling of serving as a Spartans representative for the local NFL team, but is also thrilled with the proximity he now has to his beloved alma mater.
“It’s great,” he said. “I love Michigan State, the opportunity it gave me, the fans there. I just having nothing but good things to say about them.”
Bachie has established himself as a valuable special teams player over his career and took 18 snaps in the Lions’ 31-30 win over the New Orleans Saints in their season opener. He didn’t initially make the team’s 53-man roster out of training camp but immediately returned to the team’s practice squad and was signed to the active roster entering Week 1.
“Smart, just a smart, crafty, all-out linebacker, can play all the spots as needed, special teams. And he just has picked up where he left off from when I remember him,” said Lions coach Dan Campbell, who was on the New Orleans Saints staff when they brought Bachie in as an undrafted rookie.
Added Campbell in August, “He can play on special teams and do anything that (special teams coordinator Dave) Fipp’s asked him to do. So, he’s pretty dependable.”
Bachie’s ties to his alma mater run deeper than his own affiliation. Bachie’s wife, Holly, is a former track and field athlete at Michigan State and the sister of Riley, Byron and Max Bullough. Bachie played with Byron and Riley; Max now serves as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach under first-year head coach Pat Fitzgerald.
Bachie played for the Spartans in Mark Dantonio’s last four seasons as head coach. He started in his final three seasons and was a team captain in 2018 and 2019, helping guide the Spartans to three straight winning seasons and a 24-15 record as a starter.
He sees many similarities between Dantonio and Campbell.
“Everything’s been the same (as Michigan State), built on toughness, being a smart guy, working hard, and it kind of goes hand in hand with how we operate under Coach Campbell. It’s exactly how coach Dantonio was,” he said.
“We had some two, three-star guys when I was there, and we were able to win because you just bought in, just like you do here. You buy in, you trust the coaches, great things can happen.”
After some tough years for the program under coaches Mel Tucker and Jonathan Smith, Bachie said the energy Fitzgerald has brought back reminds him of when Dantonio led the Spartans to national prominence.
“I went to the … alumni golf outing … and it just felt like there was a new energy there for the first time in a couple of years,” he said. “I’ve had a ton of respect for Coach Fitz since he’s been at Northwestern.”
Following stints with the Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles, joining Detroit has finally put him near his old stomping grounds. With East Lansing now only about an hour and 15 minutes away, he drove up to watch the Spartans take on Toledo in their season opener.
Bachie admittedly was a little nervous when Toledo took a 20-19 lead in the fourth quarter. Michigan State then pulled away and won the opener, 30-20.
“I think this year for the Spartans, it’s gonna be one of those (seasons) where it’s like, game by game and play by play,” Bachie said. “I think we’re going to get better and better.”
It was only the second time he’d returned to campus for a game since he left and the first time since 2021. He tailgated for the first time in his life, though it was only a half measure. His crew got catering before heading over to the lot, meaning he wasn’t on the grill.
“Threw the ball a couple times, celebrity tossed (the football) when I walked by, but more so just hung out, played some music, opened the tailgate, hung out, had a cooler,” he said.
The next game the Spartans play is the biggest of the Fitzgerald era: a trip to No. 3 Notre Dame on Saturday night, Sept. 19. Thanks to a mini bye week provided by the Lions’ appearance on “Thursday Night Football,” he’ll have the chance to soak it all in.
But first, he has to take care of his own business when the Lions play the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium.
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
@nolanbianchi