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Lions DE Marcus Davenport out for season; LB Derrick Barnes to miss ‘significant’ time

Campbell confident with depth on his roster

ALLEN PARK — Lions defensive end Marcus Davenport is done for the season after an elbow injury in the win at Arizona on Sunday.

Linebacker Derrick Barnes, who took a cut block to his right knee early in the game, will be out for a significant amount of time but there is no exact timeframe because testing is not complete. It’s unknown at this point if he will require surgery.

Not great news to lose two defensive starters, but coach Dan Campbell said on Monday the roster is built to handle this.

“It’s not our first rodeo, we’ve been through this. We got hit like this immediately in ‘21. I pretty much said coming out of that year, we would never have another year where we felt like this got on us,’’ Campbell said.  “That’s why you have a 69-man roster because everyone of those guys is going to have to help you at one point of another.’’

The team knows it’s next man up.

“We don’t bat an eye. We acknowledge there are some good players that can be down but this is your opportunity now, next man step up and help us,’’ Campbell said. “There’s no looking back, nobody cares, nobody feels sorry for us, we just move forward.’’

Barnes has been playing lights-out during the first three games. 

“It’s going to hurt to lose Barnes, Barnes is playing at a high level. But if it’s going to happen in any room the linebacker room gives you faith, all of those guys can play. We have a ton of faith in those guys,’’ Campbell said.

On Sunday they were already missing linebacker Alex Anzalone, who was sidelined with a concussion, and then lost Barnes early in the game.

Linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez started with Jack Campbell who was making the calls. Jalen Reeves-Maybin saw action as did Ben Niemann. Campbell said Niemann didn’t take any of those reps in practice but he stepped in and didn’t miss a beat.

Defensive end Josh Paschal, who played 18 defensive snaps on Sunday, will help fill the gap left by Davenport’s absence.

“Paschal, this is going to be big for him, he’s going to take a load over there now and he played an outstanding game. I thought he played really well yesterday,’’Campbell said. “He’s physical,  continues to grow. We’re going to need him to step up and we have all the faith in the world he will.’’

Campbell had better news with the others who were injured Sunday. Defensive lineman Alim McNeill and tight end Sam LaPorta (ankle) are day to day. Brian Branch is in concussion protocol. 

The Lions have an extra day of rest because they don’t play until Monday night. Then their bye week comes the first weekend of October which willt give them extra time to heal.

UP NEXT: Seattle Seahawks (3-0) at Detroit Lions (2-1) at 8:15 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 30, at Ford Field.

Resilient Detroit Lions run down Cardinals in win; bottle up Kyler Murray

Five reasons for the bounce-back victory

Think of these Detroit LIons and the word “grit” immediately comes to mind. Hey, it’s a fact. However the resilience of the group, under coach Dan Campbell, carried them far last year  and it continues early on this season.

On Sunday night, the Lions roared out of the gate and held on for a 20-13 win over the Arizona Cardinals on the road. Detroit was coming off a 20-16 loss at Ford Field to the Bucs last week.

“It’s good to get back in the win column. Our guys were locked and ready to go this week. I felt like we cleaned up a lot of things that needed cleaning up,’’ Campbell said. “It’s still not perfect but ultimately we knew, and our guys knew, that this was going to be one of those grinding, gritty, unglorious jobs that were going to need to be done on the O-line, D-line, receivers. And that’s exactly the game it was.’’

The goal was to establish the run early, along with bottling up Cardinals’ Kyler Murray who was coming off a win with a perfect quarterback rating.

Mission accomplished.

It was a different game than the previous week and that’s OK with Campbell because along with grit and resilience, this team can match up with any type of opponent.

“That’s what makes you feel pretty good. I feel we can play different types of games. We can do whatever we need to with special teams, defense and offense. We just have to find a way to win every week and they could be different every time,’’ Campbell said.

Five of the reasons the Lions won:

ONE: Detroit’s defense allowed the Cardinals to convert six first downs in the first drive which resulted in a touchdown pass from Kyler Murray to Marvin Harrison Jr.  After that it was tough sledding for QB Kyler Murray and his gang, grabbing just 11 first downs the rest of the game. They were just 1-of-9 on third-down attempts while the Lions were 6-of-12. While Murray was sacked just once (by Aidan Hutchinson) he was pressured throughout including three straight incompletions midway through the fourth quarter. 

“Our coverage, I thought, for the most part, played pretty dang good. It was tight coverage and he had to make tight throws with tight coverage,’’ Campbell said. “… We knew they were going to get some, but we were able to do that and then I think a lot of it was offensively, we were able to possess the ball and put pressure on them. We were able to stay up two scores most of the game.’’

TWO: With two minutes left in the first half, the Lions appeared to catch a huge break when Goff had threw an apparent interception that was returned for a touchdown. However, the officials said the two-minute clock had gone off before the play. Campbell said he had heard the two-minute whistle at least a full second before the play. Four plays later from the Cardinals’ 21-yard line they scored on a hook-and-ladder play from Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown who passed it to Gibbs who ran into the endzone. That gave them a 20-7 lead just before the half. It was a huge turn-around.

THREE: Safe to say the Cardinals may be working on their run defense this week. David Montgomery (106 rushing) and Jahmyr Gibbs (83 rushing) gashed the Arizona defense early and often. Montgomery carried six times for 39 yards on the opening drive, finishing it off with a 1-yard touchdown run. 

“I think our backs, they kind of feed off each other – Montgomery and Gibbs and that O-line. They were able to establish the ground game and the physical side of it,’’ Campbell said. “It doesn’t mean you’re going to have 10-yard runs every time but you know what kind of game you’re about to walk into if youre the opponent – this is the type of day it’s going to be. That’s really what you want to establish.’’ Montgomery and Gibbs have each logged 70-plus scrimmage yards in each of the first three games which is a first in the NFL for a running back duo since 2006.

FOUR: Jared Goff was his usual steady self. Heck, he sealed the win on a keeper, sliding for the first down with 1:13 left. Goff got off to a good start with a 70-yard touchdown drive on the first possession. He didn’t throw an incompletion in the first half (12 of 12).  It almost looked easy, but throughout the game yards were tough to come by. He did throw one interception, but overall his numbers were good completing 18 of 23 attempts for 198 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

FIVE: Dan Campbell had the team ready for its first road game of the season. Following a loss where they were 1 of 7 in the red zone, he had said they could fix the problem and they did with two trips to the red zone and two touchdowns, both in the first half. “It was just a great team performance and I’m proud of the guys,’’ Campbell said.

UP NEXT: Seattle Seahawks (3-0) at Lions (2-1) at 8:15 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 30 at Ford Field.

Five things to watch as Lions try to bounce back against Cardinals; plus injury update and prediction

The Lions haven’t lost back-to-back games since late October 2022. It’s definitely a streak they want to keep alive heading to Arizona for Sunday’s matchup with the Cardinals.

“That’s kind of what we’re built for, is responding, and we’ve got another really good team we’re playing again this week with Arizona,’’ quarterback Jared Goff said. “On the road, it’ll be a tough environment, it’ll be a tough game to win, but we’ll be geared up and ready.”

The Lions (1-1)  are coming off a 20-16 loss to the Buccaneers at Ford Field while the Cardinals (1-1) upset the Rams 41-10 last Sunday.

Coach Dan Campbell has a team that will look adversity in the eye and spit in it.

“As much as we want rainbows and sunshine all the time, this happens. It’s not always going to be smooth sailing. Shoot, the last couple years I think of the New England game and the Dallas game early in the season where we didn’t get it rolling a couple years ago, and then last year we had some bumps in the road as well,’’ offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said. “So those things happen, we want to minimize those as much as possible, and I think that’s the mark of a good/great team is, each week we find a way to put enough points on the board to get us down to win the game at the end of it.’’

 Kickoff is Sunday at 4:25 p.m.

Five things to watch as Lions play at Cardinals:

ONE: Don’t let Arizona’s offense get off to a fast start. In the first two games they scored on each of the first three drives. Kyler Murray had a perfect quarterback rating – 17 of 21 for 266 yards and three touchdowns last week. He also carried the ball five times for 59 yards, including a 26-yard scamper. “I think this coordinator does a really, really good job because in passing situations he does a really good job of continuing to run the ball, so you have to really play true,’’ Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said. “That’s what I talk to our defensive guys about. This is not a team where you can just say, ‘OK, we’re putting in our pass defense.’ And then they’ll gut you by running the ball on those situations because they really feel good about their run game.’’

TWO: It will not be the Jared Goff vs. Budda Baker Show, but Baker, who defends well against the run and the pass, is “a football playing dude” in the words of Campbell. “He’s one of the top safeties in the League and a guy that I’ve played since college and have a ton of respect for,’’ Goff said.  “I’ve seen him flying around the field for almost 10 years now and he’s a hell of a player and a guy that will be out there that we will be aware of.

THREE: The offense moved the ball last week better than Week 1 but not when it mattered the most. “We actually had more winning grades as individuals than we had the week prior, so, just like coach is saying, our focus is on getting better. Individually that certainly happened as an offense. We moved the ball better, we didn’t have the three-and-outs that we had Week 1, but clearly, we didn’t finish the drives like we needed to,’’ Johnson said.  “A thing that’s kind of popped up for two weeks in a row now is not playing complementary football. The three-and-outs Week 1 kind of put unneeded stress on our defense, and then last week special teams comes through to extend a drive and we don’t end up with points, then our defense is coming through with – in the fourth quarter with multiple stops, and we don’t come up with points for us, so we’ve got to do a better job complementing the rest of the team, they’re doing a phenomenal job right now.’’

FOUR: Linebacker Alex Anzalone, who suffered a concussion against the Bucs, is questionable to play but Glenn said he is confident in Jack Campbell and Malcolm Rodriguez to step in if Anzalone is sidelined. “I have plenty of trust in that linebacker room. Jack has done a good job for us, going from OTAs and training camp, of backing Alex up and being able to make the calls and stand in front of that huddle, so I have no issue with that. Rigo was a starter for us for quite some time, so I am very comfortable with him coming in and getting those reps too,’’ Glenn said. “So that’s a room that I have the utmost confidence in regardless of who plays, even if (Jalen Reeves-Maybin) Germ has to play, I expect him to go out there and play up to the same level as every other linebacker that we have. So, I’m confident in those guys.”

FIVE: In a surprise to no one, Cardinals rookie WR Marvin Harrison Jr., has easily made the transition to the NFL. He scored Arizona’s first two touchdowns last week on 23-yard and 60-yard pass plays. There may not be much NFL film on him but he’s the same guy who played lights out at Ohio State. “I know this, he’s improved every week. He’s a talented athlete, he’s long, he’s got good ball skills, and he really kind of did a little bit of everything last week,’’ Campbell said. “ … He’s growing as he goes, and I think you just study what you see on tape, and we know what he is and, look, we’ve got – (Carlton Davis III) CD’s an experienced corner. He’s long, he can run, so I like the matchup and I like (CB Terrion Arnold) TA too. So, he’s getting better and hopefully he doesn’t catch fire against us.”

LIONS INJURY UPDATE: S Ifeatu Melifonwu (ankle) and CB Ennis Rakestraw (hamstring) are out. LB Alex Anzalone (concussion), CB Terrion Arnold (illness), G Graham Glasgow (knee) and WR Isaiah Williams (abdomen) are questionable.

FEARLESS PREDICTION: Lions 31, Cardinals 27.