Dan Campbell regrets decision late in game as Lions lose to Vikings

Dan Campbell’s aggressiveness seems like a breath of fresh air after watching the Lions’ mostly conservative play calling for so long.

The coach and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson called a solid game on Sunday, but a few questionable calls cost them the win. The Lions couldn’t finish and much of the blame falls on the shoulders of the coaches.

Campbell went for it on fourth down six times in the 28-24 loss at the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. The Lions converted four of those but it was one miss that stands out.

With 1:14 left – and holding onto a 24-21 lead – the Lions’ call on fourth-and-4 from the Vikings’ 38 was for a 54-yard field goal which would have been a career high for Austin Seibert. It sailed wide right. 

“For me, I regret my decision there at the end,’’ Campbell said. “I should have gone for it on fourth down. Told the team that.’’

The Vikings (2-1) then needed just three plays to cover 56 yards and score a touchdown to take the 28-24 lead, their first lead of the game with less than a minute on the clock. 

The Lions (1-2) were up by 10 with 8 minutes left in a tough road game, but couldn’t hold on. Campbell told his players not to get frazzled by the loss.

“I told them it should sting, it shouldn’t taste good because we had it. I just told them we’ve got to learn from it, we’ve got to learn from the plays that bit us in the (butt),’’ the coach said. “As you know, you guys have a job to do, there’ll be a lot of criticism placed on a number of guys myself and including the players, which is natural. They all know it. You can’t go on the downs and ups. Just stay true to what it is and learn from our mistakes.’’

Another questionable call came early in the fourth quarter, the Lions had a third-and-1 at their own 27. Instead of handing the ball off to Jamaal Williams or D’Andre Swift (who was playing hurt), Jared Goff’s pass to Josh Reynolds was incomplete. That forced a punt and on that next series the Vikings’ running back Alexander Mattison scored a touchdown on a 6-yard scamper that closed the gap to a 24-21 lead for Detroit.

The Lions struggled on third downs — going 3 of 16 — which led to so many fourth-down attempts.

Even after the loss, Campbell said this result won’t affect his aggressiveness in general

“I’ll always evaluate, I go back and watch (film) and really think about was this the right thing to do, was it not the right thing to do. I do know if you’re going to go in and feel you need to be aggressive early in the game, you can’t second guess when it doesn’t work out for you early in the game,’’ Campbell told the media. “It’s not going to affect me. I’m going to always do what I feel is best to help us win.”

The defense put pressure on quarterback Kirk Cousins early but had trouble stopping the run. Dalvin Cook had 96 yards on 17 carries before he was injured late in the game. After three sacks in the win a week ago, rookie Aidan Hutchinson didn’t have a sack or a tackle. Alex Anzalone had the Lions’ lone sack and led the defense with 10 tackles.

Goff was 25-of-41 for 277 yards with one touchdown, one interception and a 79.0 rating.

Swift, who has been dealing with an ankle injury, played but was limited. Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (six catches for 73 yards) limped off the field late in the first half. He played in the second half, but wasn’t 100 percent.

Running back Jamaal Williams stepped up, finishing with 87 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns.

Safety Tracy Walker left the game in the second half and did not return. Campbell said they will know more on Monday, but it could be an Achilles or an ankle. An Achilles injury could possibly end his season.

(Next up: Seattle Seahawks at Lions, 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 2, at Ford Field.)

Five things to know as Lions face the Vikings; plus prediction

When the Lions take on the Vikings at Minnesota on Sunday, they will have both faced the Philadelphia Eagles in the first two weeks. 

The Eagles topped the Vikings 24-7 on Monday night and edged the Lions 38-35 in the opener.

It doesn’t take a math genius to figure that the Lions scored 35 points on the Eagles defense while the Vikes could only manage seven. That’s not necessarily how Lions coach Dan Campbell sees it.

“I thought of it more as it pertains to Minnesota. That’s a game on the road, hostile environment, their first road game. Philly got off to a pretty good start, did a couple of things tempo-wise that kind of got them on their heels a little bit,’’ Campbell said. “There are matchups in this league, some teams match teams a little bit differently or better and personnel wise I kind of felt it was one of those games. 

“I think this team we’re getting ready to play is a good football team. They’ve got serious firepower. They’re coming off a loss, they’re going to be ready to go, they’re back in their home crowd,’’ the coach said. “They’re 1-0 in their division. This is a big test for us.”

The Lions, who will play their first division game, have not won a road game since Dec. 6, 2020, when they topped the Bears 34-30 at Soldier Field. The Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers, 23-7, in the opener.

Five things to watch as the Lions (1-1) face the Vikings (1-1):

1. The Lions’ defense has given up an average of 152 rushing yards in the first two games. They’ll have their hands full with Vikings running back Dalvin Cook who has 26 carries for 107 yards along with seven catches for 37 yards. He’s still looking for his first touchdown. The biggest thing with him and we do have a lot of respect for him, I think he’s one of the best backs in the league,’’ said Todd Wash, Lions defensive line coach. “We believe they’re going to feed him this week and try to get him going. With him when it looks like he might hit a hole, he might hit one on the opposite side. He’s similar to Le’veon Bell. He might be in one spot, that doesn’t mean he’s going to stay there. He never stops his feet, he runs hard, heck of a jump cut. We have to be disciplined with our gap accountability and stay a little bit longer than we normally do to not allow a cutback.’’ So far defensive tackles Alim McNeil and Isaiah Buggs have been key to the Lions run defense.

2. Campbell said Jared Goff has been efficient. The quarterback needs to build on that. The LIons offense is tied for second in the NFL scoring 35.5 points per game and ranks fourth in total offense averaging 405.5 yards per game. So far Goff is 41 of 71 for 471 yards, six touchdowns, one interception and a 100.1 quarterback rating. “I thought he’s gotten us in the right play. I think he’s been pretty steady. I think when things haven’t gone perfect he’s always snapped back and finished the game strong,’’ Campbell said. “And man, he’s – listen, there’s a number of things we’ve been doing we’re asking him to get us into the right play in the pass game as well and he’s doing that. Man, he’s getting us into the right look, right play-call, and then he’s finding these receivers.

3. Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and running back D’Andre Swift have been off to remarkable starts in the first two games. Wouldn’t expect them to let up now. The Vikings defense has given up 412 yards per game which ranks 29th in the NFL, one spot ahead of the Lions who have given up 425.5 yards per game. Give part of the credit to offensive coordinator Ben Johnson who has called the offense, but both of those guy are turning heads around the NFL.

4. It’s the first road game for the Lions this season. Campbell said most of the stress will be on the offense. “It really is communication where the most stress comes on your offense, because there’s been so much that’s been verbalized and you’re able to do that at home. On the road you can’t do it any more, not at a place like this where we’re going,’’ Campbell said. ”It’s been a while since we’ve tried to function or had to function like that. … I really believe that the key is us being able to be efficient with everything we do. It starts with (Jared) Goff and goes to the offensive line as well as the receivers. Defensively you’re used to not being able to verbally communicate, now it’s that switch it’s us being on the same page with how we communicate.’’

5. Injuries have been a factor in the Lions first two games but they’ve been able to go 1-1 despite key offensive line injuries, among others. This game they’ll be without defensive lineman John Cominsky who had thumb surgery on Tuesday and left guard Jonah Jackson (finger) for the second straight week. It’s expected Dan Skipper will get the start again for Jackson. Center Frank Ragnow (foot) could be back on the line while Aidan Hutchinson (thigh), T.J. Hockenson (hip) and D’Andre Swift (ankle) are questionable but could play.

(Prediction: Lions 28, Viking 24. Minnesota is coming off a loss on Monday night game and the Lions seem to have momentum.)

Amon-Ra St. Brown named NFC offensive player of week

ALLEN PARK — Going into Week 3 of the NFL, wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is a big reason that the Lions have the NFL’s fourth-ranked offense.

St. Brown was named the NFC’s offensive player of the week for his production in the win over the Commanders on Sunday when he had nine receptions, while setting career highs in receiving yards (116), receiving touchdowns (2), rushing yards (68) and yards from scrimmage (184). He set the NFL record for most consecutive games (6) with 8 receptions and a touchdown.

“I would say for me I’m looking to do much more than just be the player of the week,’’ St. Brown said on Wednesday. “That’s just this week. I’m looking to do a lot more this season as a team and individually. It’s a new week I already forgot about last week.’’

On Sunday at the Minnesota Vikings, St. Brown will need eight receptions to establish a new NFL record with nine straight games with 8-plus catches. He also needs one touchdown reception to establish a new team record by producing a TD catch in 7 straight games. 

“I would say I take pride in consistency, that’s something I take very seriously. But the record, it is what it is, I don’t go into the game thinking let me get this record. It kind of happened. Obviously last game I knew the record was at stake, the record I broke,’’ St. Brown said. “Going into it I was just playing ball and it happened how it did. Obviously next week if I get 8 more I will break another record. I go into the game just playing ball. I think the moment you start thinking about things like that is the moment you start playing slow, doing things you wouldn’t normally do.’’

St. Brown exudes a quiet confidence. When asked if he considers himself one of the top wide receivers in the league, he didn’t hesitate to say, “I feel that way,”

Quarterback Jared Goff said the stats are crazy but he hasn’t been forcing the ball to St. Brown.

“It hasn’t felt like we’ve been like trying, like we’ve got to get him involved. It’s just kind of the way the flow is going,’’ Goff said. “He runs good routes, he gets himself open. Again, it hasn’t felt forced. It’s been natural and he’s done a great job.’’

In his second year, St. Brown has turned heads around the NFL for his accomplishments as a fourth-round pick in 2021. 

It still irks him that he was drafted so late. He mentioned that the Commanders drafted wide receiver Dyami Brown before him in the third round, but he didn’t see him much in the game. Dyami Brown played but doesn’t have a catch so far this season. The Vikings didn’t draft a wide receiver before him, but as he pointed out they didn’t draft him either.

Coach Dan Campbell said on Wednesday that GM Brad Holmes was a fan of St. Brown’s early in the draft process before they selected him in the fourth round out of USC.

“I know for me, watching him reminded me of Jarvis Landry (Saints wide receiver) —  his competitive nature, he played smart. He was an aggressive player with the ball in the air, he would attack the football, you saw him block downfield, he was versatile, he had quickness and really the only thing he didn’t have he wasn’t a 4.3 guy,’’ Campbell said. “But everything else were traits we felt like fit us and he’d be a natural fit in the slot.

“In general as a group you want versatility, you want a little of everything — you want pure route runners, you want speed, you want size, craftiness, quicks and I feel like we have that in that room we have the right blend of guys who are all a little bit different and unique in what they could do,’’ the coach added.

Obviously St. Brown’s teammates may be his biggest fans.

“(The records are) very cool for him and it means he’s doing the right thing absolutely, and it means we’re somewhat on the right path as well for being able to get a guy who’s that good that often,’’ quarterback Jared Goff said. “The more popular he gets, the more notoriety he gets, people are going to have plans for him so you’re going to see those players like him go from where he’s at right now to really special and that’s where we hope he goes.”