Dan Campbell gives three reasons why the Lions have now allowed a sack in three straight games which is a franchise record.
Jared Goff was sacked four times in the opening loss at Green Bay, but has not gone down in the three straight wins. He’s been pressured but not sacked.
“It’s always going to start with the O-line. The way those guys work together. We talked about our two tackles, then how they all work in unison, sometimes turning the protection away and with all things being equal sliding one way — you’re helping the center which helps the guard, the guard helps the tackle. Those guys are working together really well,’’ Campbell said.
Goff couldn’t agree more.
“They’ve been awesome. They’ve really done a good job. In particular, this past week with that front, it’s really hard,’’ Goiff said. “Yeah, I’ve done my best to get the ball out and try to stay upright. I think that helps them and they help me, and it’s a good thing going right now.”
That brings us to Campbell’s reason No. 2.
“Goff has been outstanding in the pocket. His pocket presence when he’s chosen to step up , when he’s chosen to move,’’ Campbell said. “It’s been right-on. That helps big-time.’’
Goff said it’s something he works on. He’s not sure if he’s better now than in the past but it’s a work in progress.
“This year, I’ve done a pretty good job of it, but it starts when you – I could answer this question really long, but when you don’t have a lot of pressure, it’s easy to feel when there is one pressure. As opposed to when there’s always pressure, it’s hard to feel when it’s actually and when it isn’t,’’ Goff said. “That’s when you see a lot of guys scrambling when they don’t need to. I think when our O-line has been as good as they’ve been, when one guy does get edged, it’s easy to feel that and for me to move. And that makes it a whole lot easier for a quarterback.”
Thirdly, Campbell credits the receivers who are getting open with speed.
“They’re playing with urgency in the pass game. Those guys have to out-run the rush,’’ Campbell said.
It almost sounds simple, but if it was this would not be a record since sacks became an official stat in 1982.
“When you do all three of those things, good things happen,’’ Campbell said.
UP NEXT: Lions (3-1) at Cincinnati Bengals (2-2), 4:25 p.m. on Sunday.
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