The Detroit LIons continue to demolish the franchise record books with their 8-1 start to the season. A win over the lowly Jaguars (2-8) on Sunday would give them the best start to the season since 1934 and their eighth straight win.
With the talent and expectations, nothing about the season so far is surprising. Key injuries haven’t stopped them – the only flaw was a bad game against the Tampa Bay Bucs.
Coach Dan Campbell said the team’s love for one another plays into the success.
“It’s a huge part of it because it’s – there’s so much that goes into it. There’s an unselfishness in a selfish business. It’s hard, and I’m talking about not just players, I’m talking about coaches too,’’ Campbell said. “That’s the nature of this game, man. This is type-A personalities and very confident, especially if you’re competing at the highest level.
“But to be able to put your ego aside for the guy next to you and you say you care about him, will you care about him enough to do everything it takes to get on the field and do your job and produce, and it should break your heart when you don’t finish for a player next to you, you don’t finish a block or you don’t chase the ball down and it turned into something bigger than it needed to be or you’re not in the gap you’re supposed to be in. Those should drive you and motivate you not to let the guy next to you – and that’s the common thread in all great teams, man. That’s how they function, that’s how they work, it’s how they practice, and they hold each other accountable,’’ Campbell added.
Five things to watch against the Jaguars:
ONE: Jared Goff is fully expected to bounce back to his old self after throwing five interceptions in the win at the Texans. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has gotten to know Goff well and said he handled the game at Houston as well as he could. “I mean, on the sideline, we’re talking through what he’s seeing and he’s seeing it all great and as much as I can, I’m trying to reassure him, it’s on me as much as anything else because what we saw on tape and what we said was going to happen didn’t quite turn out the way that we wanted,’’ Johnson said. “So, just telling him that I’m as responsible as he is for those interceptions and he certainly showed up there, like I said, in the fourth quarter, he came out and was still firing that ball. A lot of guys would clam up and be afraid to make a mistake and he did not do that.”
TWO: Za’Darius Smith gets first action with the Lions after the trade 10 days ago. While he was inactive at Houston, he was on the sidelines helping to coach the defensive line. Left tackle Taylor Decker has faced Smith through the years. “ Incredibly violent hands, powerful guy, I think one thing he’s able to line up all across the field,’’ Decker said. ‘You’ve seen him over center, over guards and and then tons of times you’ll see him one-on-one with offensive tackles. He’s got some of that swagger, that confidence.’’
THREE: Quarterback Trevor Lawrence will sit out with an injured non-throwing shoulder. The Jags have a bye week coming up so it will add to his rest time. Mac Jones will get his second straight start. In the 12-7 loss to the Vikings last week, Jones was 14 of 22 for 111 yards, zero interceptions and a pair of interceptions.
FOUR: The Jaguars defense has struggled, giving up 261.2 passing yards and 129.4 rushing yards per game makes them the NFL’s worst defense. Five Jags are tied with one interception each while the Lions have a total of 13 — Kerby Joseph with 6 and Brian Branch with 4. Sounds like a good time for Joseph and Branch to step up again.
FIVE: Jameson Williams, after a two-game suspension, was thrown back into the fire. He had two key third-down catches including one where he was sandwiched between two defenders. “He’s really coming on and showing up,’’ Johnson said. “ When you challenge him on the sidelines, he typically responds in a positive way and we knew, particularly with the turnovers, our margin for error had gone down, so he needed to make that play for us at that time and he did. But the level of confidence in him and his hands and his detail continues to rise.”
LIONS INJURY REPORT: TE Sam LaPorta (shoulder), DT Bodric Martin (knee). S Ifeatu Melifonwu (ankle/finger) and CB Emmanuel Moseley (pectoral) are out; LB Ben Niemann (ankle) is questionable.
JAGUARS INJURY REPORT: QB Trevor Lawrence and RB Tank Bigsby are out; OL Ezra Cleveland, DT Maason Smith and RB Keilan Robinson are questionable.
PREDICTION: Lions 42, Jaguars 6
Lions Lowdown 