Caldwell: Detroit Lions need to move on after Sunday’s strange loss

Next up is road game at Minnesota Vikings

ALLEN PARK — Jim Caldwell is moving on from the ending of Sunday’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

Now the Detroit Lions coach has to get the team on the same page with him.

It should not be difficult. Caldwell is consistent in his approach with the team. He’s even-keeled throughout the season and he doesn’t want players getting too excited or too down.

“I don’t want to be cynical in that sense but I can tell you that this is a fairly new group. Our nucleus is the same. Every year is different like we always talk about. I can only tell you that you have setbacks during the course of games. You have adversity. We’ve been able overcome those. So, we’ll see how we bounce back,’’ Caldwell said on Monday. “The idea is to get it behind us as quickly as we can, and a lot of that has to do with just guys making up their mind it’s over and done with. But the close ones make you think about it a little bit. We understand that part of it.’’

So on Monday the plan was to go over film of the game and make corrections which is a typical Monday.

Then on Wednesday the players will start preparing for the road game at the Minnesota Vikings (2-1) on Sunday.

We got to travel and play a very, very difficult team. Tough team that’s got some great challenges for us. So, that’s part of the challenge that we face every week after either you win or you lose. If you win and guys are still thinking about how well they played the day before or week before, that can get you,” Caldwell said. “And this is no different but this is kind of this part of this league that it’s all about. It’s how do you handle it? So, we try to preach it and talk about it, and I think our guys have always had pretty good, really good focus in that regard.”

Caldwell said it’s not just up to him to get the players in the right frame of mind. It’s the assistant coaches who work closely with the position groups and the team leaders too.

The Golden Tate touchdown with 8 seconds left was overturned and the clock run down to end the game.

Caldwell said the officials followed the rule.

“End of story. I mean I remember growing up, you guys always talked about a loser’s limp. To me, that’s the next thing to it. You start complaining about stuff, and it should’ve happened this way. Forget about that,’’ Caldwell said. “You’ve got to do something about it rather than talk about it. I don’t believe in excuses and all of those kinds of things. They don’t work, and they’re not good for us. We just need to go back to work.”

Detroit Lions players react to linking arms for national anthem

Eight Lions took a knee; Caldwell issues strong words

DETROIT — Lions players and coaches linked arms during the national anthem before the 30-26 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday at Ford Field.

Owner Martha Firestone Ford and her daughters were at the center linking arms with the players.

Eight of the Lions took a knee. They included Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Tahir Whitehead, Ameer Abdullah, Steve Longa, Jeremiah Ledbetter,  Akeem Spence, A’Shawn Robinson and Cornelius Washington.

Prior to the game, Lions president Rod Wood said the team supported the players. Mrs. Ford issued a statement echoing that thought on Sunday morning.

Reaction from the Lions afterward:

— Eric Ebron  “I just see things differently. Some people might condone it, I don’t. One of my biggest pet peeves is disrespect and I feel like we were disrespected as an organization. It’s not a form of protesting. Like I said, I just don’t deal with disrespect, and I felt like what came out of the mouth of our leader was disrespect.”

— Jim Caldwell: “I’ve been in the league a while and I know the players in this league, there are no SOBs in this league. These are men that work hard, with integrity, they’re involved in our communities, they’re fathers, they’re brothers, and their mothers aren’t what he said they were. Our guys believe in unity, civility and also First Amendment rights to peaceful expression and freedom of speech which you guys know a little about. So that’s really all I want to say about it, it’s taken up too much time, too much energy. We’re trying to focus on things that help us grow and develop, not things that tear us down and divide us. … It wasn’t in protest of the flag, it was unity.’’

— Ebron on having Mrs. Ford link arms with them: “It meant a lot. She’s a wonderful person. She believes in us, she trusts in us, she’s always there for us whenever we need it. You know, all we can do is just be thankful for the ownership that we have of this organization and this team. She brings a lot for us and we play for a lot because of that.”

— Akeem Spence on President Donald Trump’s statements over the weekend:  “I mean, it’s just crazy and it’s wrong. You know, it shouldn’t be like that.  There are hard-working people who give back to the community.  Our owners are the same way and they have the utmost respect for us and we have the utmost respect for our country, our flag and everything like that.  So for our head guy to say something like that about our owners, what they should do – No man, that’s something I can’t.  Right is right, wrong is wrong. So I feel like he was wrong in that sense. You know, we just came out and acted in unity together and just made a statement.”

— Spence on deciding to kneel during the National Anthem: “We had a conversation and everyone felt a certain way.  Right is right, wrong is wrong and it was wrong so we came together and just made a statement.  Nobody is taking that stuff, man, it’s wrong.  That shouldn’t be accepted in this country for nobody.”

—  Matthew Stafford: “I think the majority of the team was (linking arms) if I’m not mistaken, I didn’t look all the way up and down the line. To show solidarity, we’re a team. It’s just what we decided to do, what we thought was best.” He said the decision to link arms was just talked about among players, no big meeting or anything. The word spread.

Five standouts in Detroit Lions’ loss to the Atlanta Falcons

Secondary comes up big with 3 interceptions

DETROIT — Through the years, the Lions have often found different ways to lose.

Sunday was different.

The Lions lost 30-26 to the Atlanta Falcons, the defending NFC champions.

It ended on a call that Jim Caldwell said was according to the NFL rules, but left many in the crowd stunned. After the Golden Tate touchdown call was reversed, the game was over due to a 10-second clock runoff.

(Photo courtesy of Detroit Lions)

The Lions are 2-1 and play at the Vikings (2-1) next Sunday.

This ending will be a distant memory for the players and coaches but probably not for the fans.

Five standout efforts:

1. Glover Quin intercepted Matt Ryan and returned it for a touchdown while Darius Slay finished with a pair of interceptions. It was Quin’s second interception in the first three games. In Atlanta’s first two contests, Ryan had not thrown a pick. The Lions have recorded two interception return touchdowns in the first three games of the season for the first time since 1967. The team has now accomplished this for the third time in team history, including 1967 (two) and 1950 (two). Typically a team that wins the turnover battle — the Lions forced three, the Falcons forced none — wins the game. Well, that didn’t happen but it’s a good sign the secondary is playing well.

2. Safety Miles Killebrew earned a separate category since he was making his first start. It seemed like he was everywhere. With eight tackles (seven solo), Killebrew was tied with Quin for most tackles for the Lions. Tahir Whitehead was right behind with seven tackles. He started in place of Tavon Wilson who is out with a shoulder injury.

3. Matthew Stafford took the blame on that final pass to Golden Tate. The quarterback said he should’ve thrown the ball higher to make it easier for Tate to get into the end zone.  Stafford got a slow start but went 25 of 45 for 264 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked twice and hurried often. Part of that could fall on shoulders of the makeshift offensive line. With Travis Swanson (ankle) out, Graham Glasgow shifted from left guard to center. With Joe Dahl (lower leg) out, Zac Kerin started at left guard. Zac who? He was acquired off waivers from the Vikings on Sept. 3.

4. Matt Prater. Amazing. He kicked field goals of 55, 57, 40 and 35 yards. He became the second player in NFL history to make at least 10 career field goals of 55 yards or more. He now has 11. With the Lions, Prater has now made five field goals of at least 55 yards. Prater joins Jason Hanson (1992-2012) as the only kickers in team history to make two 50-plus-yard field goals in at least two different games. For his career, this marks the fourth game he has registered two 50-plus yard field goals. It was the third time since he joined the Lions in 2014 that he has made at least four field goals in a game

5. Golden Tate didn’t finish with gaudy numbers — seven catches for 58 yards. But on many plays he’s the go-to guy. He gets open and hold onto the ball. Of course he came up a half-yard short on the final play, but that call looks like it could have gone either way. “It hurts, it hurts. It hurts to lose one like that at home, especially when your defense just kept coming up with turnovers, it hurts,’’ Tate said. “But I think if anything, guys are going to — we’re going to find a way to learn from this and try to bounce back next week on the road.” Tate surpassed 300 receptions since joining the Lions in 2014, and now has 301 with Detroit. He reached 300 receptions faster than any player in team history by accomplishing this feat in 51 games. He broke the previous best of 66 games to 300 catches by Calvin Johnson.