Detroit Lions – Page 31

Super Bowl preview? Five things to watch as Lions welcome Bills

In what could be a Super Bowl preview, the Detroit Lions (12-1) host the Buffalo Bills (10-3) at Ford Field on Sunday.

It’s a good angle but not one that the Lions are emphasizing.

“The head coach said it best early this week, we have earned a spot in the tournament based on what we’ve done thus far. We still need to win the division, we still want to get the No. 1 seed, and everything will play out from there. But that’s all way too far out in the future right now,’’ offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said.

While the Bills, who lead the AFC East, are coming off a loss to the Rams, the Lions have won 11 straight despite having 13 defensive players on injured reserve.

No excuses, the Lions just march forward and keep winning.

“This whole year has felt like he’s preparing this club for these type of moments. Not just these type of moments but moments like fourth-and-1 where we were all excited when it happened and when it went down because we understand what we’ve been prepared to do,’’ Lions running backs coach Scottie Montgomery said.

“Coaches, players, administration, everybody we’re on the same page so we understand what’s going on. We’re happy to be in these moments and our guys understand the reason this is a big game is because they’re in it. That’s one big part – it wouldn’t be a big football game if we weren’t playing at a certain level,’ he added.

Coach Dan Campbell said the Lions need to be playing their best football.

“You don’t know what it’s going to take to beat the team that you’re getting ready to play. You don’t know what that’s going to be. We know that this is a good football team, I don’t know what it’s going to take. We know that Green Bay is a damn good team. We did just enough, but you don’t know what it’s going to take with the rest of these teams down the line and you don’t know exactly who’s going to be in, you don’t know – and so are you willing to say that it’s good enough right now? I’m not,’’ Campbell said. “I don’t want to take that chance, so we have to clean some things up and we will.”

Five things to watch:

ONE: The Lions running game was not up to standard in the win over Green Bay. Running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs had one of their less productive games but it is not all on them. “You’re going to get four or five opportunities in a game where everything is blocked correctly – everything the perimeter, center, the interior – those have to be explosives. I’m not saying that happened this week but we have got to continue to make sure it happens,’’ running backs coach Scottie Montgomery said. “Then when there’s a 4-yard run you have to be able to get 5.’’

TWO: The defensive line welcomes back four who have been injured which will help in pressuring quarterback Josh Allen and stopping running back James Cook. Alim McNeill, Levi Onwuzurike, Josh Paschal and D.J. Reader are all a go for Sunday. “We’re going to put a lot on our defense this week. Our defense and special teams are going to play a critical factor in this game,’’ Campbell said. “So, yeah, it’s critical, but it’s going to take all three phases here and I expect our defense to play well.”

THREE: Lions secondary faces challenge in Josh Allen who has completed 64.1 percent of his passes and thrown just five interceptions against 23 touchdowns. Allen’s mobility is also something to watch. “I think they have an offense to where, man, they are distributing the ball to a number of different people, and I know they’re going to get some people back this week who are a huge part of their offense, so that’s going to be something we have to be ready for, also,’’ Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said. “But, man, this quarterback, he’s an MVP-caliber guy, there’s no doubt about that, and we know that. But we’re going to go out there and do everything we can to stop what he’s trying to do. It’s going to be a tough challenge and we know it.”

FOUR: Quarterback Jared Goff has kept the offense running smoothly so far and needs to keep going against the Billls. Goff and Ben Johnson work closely each week to help develop the game plan. “The things that he’s most comfortable with usually work on game days, so we want to give him a lot of liberty early in the week, ‘Hey, I think we can get a post if we do this or that.’ And we’ll try to find a way to make that an alert for him if we can call it against the right coverage,’’ Johnson said. “So, it’s just, call it an hour every day over the course of the week. We’ve got a good process right now from Monday to Sunday that we just keep pressing the reset button every week. We can’t get tired of it. But he’s doing a great job of that.”

FIVE: Lions must continue success on third downs.They’re ranked fourth best in the NFL while the Bills third down defense is near the bottom at 25th. In the win over the Packers, Detroit was four of five on fourth downs, they may be just as aggressive on Sunday while waiting for some key defensemen to heal up and get back in the game.

LIONS INJURY UPDATE: LB Trevor Nowaske (concussion) is out. All others, who are not on injured reserve, are cleared.

BILLS INJURY UPDATE:CB Rasul Douglas is out. OL Tylan Grable, S Damar Hamlin, TE Dalton Kincaid, TE Quintin MOrris, S Taylor Rapp, DE Dawuane Smoot, LB Baylon Spector and DE Casey Toohill are questionable.

PREDICTION: Lions 35, Bills 31

Lions defense comes together with doses of belief, respect and opportunity

ALLEN PARK — At least two intertwining truths are evident this week as the Lions prepare to face the Buffalo Bills on Sunday:

One: Bills quarterback Josh Allen is a freak, in a good way of course. Coach Dan Campbell said it, so did Kelvin Sheppard, linebackers coach. Everyone thinks and knows the mobile quarterback will be a handful.

Two: Detroit’s defense, which featured new faces in different places last week, is expected to improve this week. Plus, they might get a few injured players back.

It all seems good.

The Lions, coming off a win over the Packers, will have a similar plan against Buffalo. Keep the offense on the field since Allen is a freak and the defensive personnel are still learning to play together.

“Certainly we need offensive output that goes without saying. This team, even when you play good it’s going to be hard to completely shut this offense down,’’ Campbell said.

“But yet, there again, the guys we do have that have only been here for a short period of time I expect them to be better than last week. All of these guys are football players, it’s not like these guys can’t play football. I expect us to be better in that area. We’ll have a good gameplan. I see us playing better defensively. I think we’re going to show up and do some things. Offense has got to certainly score points preferably touchdowns not field goals and we need something out of (special) teams. Field position will be huge in this game.’’

With 13 defensive players on injured reserve, the Lions have run a master class on “next man up” and coaching up the new veterans who are unfamiliar with the system. The 11-game win streak is proof.

“Something came up in the (linebackers) room today where I was moving fast — now I’m trying to teach training camp stuff and at the same time prepare these guys to go against one of the most prolific offenses in the league this week,’’ Sheppard said. He gets help from veteran players like Jack Campbell and even Alex Anzalone who is in the meeting room even though he’s on injured reserve.

And he’s building off the mostly successful game against the Packers who were held to 31 points total and just 7 in the first half.

Sheppard explained that success is built on belief and respect.

“I think it’s a trickle down when the players see the belief we have in A.G. (Aaron Glenn, defensive coordinator) and no matter who it is, what the call is, we expect a certain standard,’’ Sheppard said. “We actually live and breathe that. Because I’ve had guys tell me, guys talk about this but the way you all practice here, the way we prepare this is different. When they see the belief, when they see us living these things, I think it’s a trickle down and these guys buy in. It’s almost like without knowing, they’re doing anything you tell them.’’

And it’s not like the new guys like Ezekiel Turner, Kwon Alexander and Jamal Adams are just filling space.

At the first practice with Turner several weeks ago, Sheppard said he didn’t even know his last name. But out of the gate he saw his speed and coachability.

“I learned that he’s not a special teams linebacker and I want that said to the entire league. I believe this is his seventh year. He was almost in tears after the last game just because of the opportunity,’’ Sheppard said.

Turner came up with a huge tackle of Jordan Love — holding him to a 2-yard gain — on a third-and-goal play from Detroit’s 16 on the Packers’ final possession. It forced the Packers to settle for a field goal.

It was the fifth Lions game for Turner. He had 17 defensive snaps, up from 4 in his first game against the Jaguars.

Not only are the Lions a bit needy for good healthy bodies, but they run a meritocracy. It does not matter to Lions coaches where the players were drafted or if they were free agents.

“Like I’ve said in those rooms and these narratives, guys go first round, second round, they’re supposed to start. Guys who are free agents are special teams. That’s what it’s been. But that’s not what it is here,’’ Sheppard said. “If you show yourself and you show up in practice and you show we can trust you – that’s a big word. … These guys haven’t gotten many snaps in this League but some of these guys are veteran players. But they come here and that’s what builds the belief when these guys know if I do these things I’m going to get an opportunity.’’

INJURY UPDATE: Left tackle Taylor Decker (knee), who missed the last two games, practiced Wednesday and expects to play on Sunday … DL D.J. Reader (shoulder) did not practice but Campbell said he may be able to go on Thursday. … Defensive linemen Josh Paschal (knee) and Levi Onwuzurike (hamstring) had limited practice. Both sat out against the Packers. … DL Alim McNeill (concussion) had a full practice. He was injured in the first half in the win over Green Bay.

UP NEXT: Buffalo Bills (10-3) at Detroit Lions (12-1), 4:25 p.m. on Sunday at Ford Field.

Injury-depleted Lions find a way to beat the Packers, 34-31

Five reasons Detroit pulled out the big division win

DETROIT — All grit, no excuses.

The Detroit Lions are the team that always seems to find a way to win. They did it again on Thursday night, defeating the Green Bay Packers, 34-31, with a game-winning field goal by Jake Bates.

But make no mistake it was a total team effort. The Lions are now 12-1 and have won 11 straight and are 4-0 in the NFC North.

With the win, they clinched a playoff berth which coach Dan Campbell wasn’t aware of until after his post-game talk with the team.

“I love the fact that we just find a way. The narrative going in, we weren’t buying any of this stuff about where we were at, no excuses,’’ Campbell said. “Our guys knew where we were at, they don’t need to talk about being tough, they don’t need to talk about being resilient, we live it. It’s what we are. We just proved it again.’’

The Packers fell to 9-4 and are in third place in the division behind the Lions and the Vikings (10-2). It was the Lions’ second win over Green Bay – they beat them 24-14 on Nov. 3.

“I told the team this will be one you’ll never forget,’’ Campbell said.

Not many will.

Five of the reasons the Lions won:

ONE: Campbell knew going in that the offense was going to have to carry the load. So it wasn’t really a surprise that they went 4-of-5 on fourth down plays, including two touchdown passes on fourth and short. “Look, the guys knew, the players knew, the coaches knew, don’t ride the wave we can be up two scores, we can be down two scores but just because we’re one or the other we have to play our style of game. That meant the risk was there,’’ Campbell said.

TWO: Despite having 13 defensive players on injured reserve, coordinator Aaron Glenn put together an effective game plan even with players who were acquired on the weekend. “We wanted the defense to let it loose, just go play. Effort, finish. Man, they did that. God, they did that,’’ Campbell said. “Helluva job by AG, those guys just laid it on the line. We call them the Northern Savages.’’

THREE: Wide receiver Tim Patrick has played well all season but until Thursday he had not caught a touchdown. And, in the win, he caught two of them. “What a great addition he’s been. He just continues to make plays for us in the run game and the pass game, stepped up big here,’’ Campbell said.

FOUR: Jared Goff was steady even after throwing an interception that led to a Packers’ touchdown three plays later. Going for it on fourth down? He loved it that the coach showed his faith in the offense. “Bigger than anything, that’s all you want from a head coach is to believe in you,’’ Goff said.

FIVE: Running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs once again provided the foundation for the offense. Montgomery carried 14 times for 51 yards including a touchdown and also caught five passes for 33 yards. Gibbs carried 15 times for 43 yards and caught six passes for 30 yards including a touchdown. Gibbs surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for the first time in his career.

UP NEXT: The Buffalo Bills (10-2) at the Lions (12-1), 4:25 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15.