DETROIT — The Lions’ offense appeared to take a step backward in Thursday’s 23-16 loss to the Chicago Bears at Ford Field.
Yes, they were without wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr., and running back Kerryon Johnson. But Chicago was forced to lean on quarterback Chase Daniel who hadn’t started a game since 2014.
That’s a wash.
No excuses.
Detroit running back LeGarrette Blount had a good day (19 carries for 88 yards). He was in no mood to celebrate. He didn’t even know his touchdown earned him a $350,000 bonus for his fifth touchdown of the season.
Blount has won three Super Bowl rings playing for the Patriots and the Eagles. He knows what it takes to be a winning team.
“I’m a Detroit Lion right now so that’s all I’m focused on. I think there’s a lot of things we need to fix in order for us to be a successful team,’’ Blount said. “There’s a lot of things that we’ve got to do that we haven’t done to put ourselves in position to win games like this. When it’s close games like this we have to finish them off. We’ve got to close them out and we didn’t. That’s our fault.’’
Quarterback Matthew Stafford had a rough day, throwing two interceptions in the fourth quarter with one returned for a touchdown by Eddie Jackson.
“I don’t like to point fingers and I don’t think it is his fault. I think as a team we’ve got to do better and I don’t think you should put all the blame on Stafford. Obviously he’s an elite quarterback. I think he’s one of the best in this league. I don’t think it’s his fault, I don’t think it’s fair for us to put it all on him,’’ Blount said. “You can go on and on about that. Like I said, he’s a great quarterback, he’s really good at what he does, he’s great at his craft. There’s no quarterback that’s going to go into a full season and not make any mistakes, he’s human he makes mistakes, I make mistakes, we all make mistakes and a lot of mistakes give you an ‘L’.’’
Blount also wouldn’t put the blame on offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter who called a conservative game except for a touchdown drive in the third quarter that feature a 43-yard pass play to Kenny Golladay.
“Our play caller calls plays but we have to go out there and execute the plays. Whether we’re doing it right or wrong, people may not know, but he does and we do,’’ Blount said. “It’s just minor details we have to fixed. Whenever we have those minor details that don’t get fixed, you have bad plays and you have plays that stall your offensive drive. We have to get back in the lab and be more detailed at what we do, pay a lot more attention to our craft and try to get this thing back on pace.’’
(Photo courtesy of Detroit Lions)
The Lions dropped to 4-7, matching their loss total for all of the 2017 season. Next up are the Los Angeles Rams who own the best record (10-1) in the NFL.
“We’re competitors, we’re warriors, we’re not going to go out there and lay down for anybody,’’ Blount said.
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