Tag: Aaron Rodgers

Facing Packers, not just another game for Lions; playoffs on line for both

ALLEN PARK — Dan Campbell was pumped on Monday, more so than all season.

This is not just another week for the Detroit Lions. A win at Green Bay on Sunday (plus a Rams’ win over the Seahawks) would earn the Lions  a wild-card playoff spot,

For most of the season, not being too high or low is the mantra.

However, this is NFL Week 18. The Lions-Packers game has been flexed to the 8:20 p.m. slot on Sunday night. The Rams and Seahawks play at 4:25 p.m. so the Lions will know if they’re playing for a playoff spot or as a spoiler for the Packers.

“We tell them the magnitude. This is big, that’s what we do. This is big. It’s going to be fun. Let’s go. The intensity is up, this is a playoff game and they’re going to know that,’’ Campbell said. “That’s how we’re going into it.’’

The Lions (8-8) have won seven of their last nine, including a 41-30 thumping of the Bears on Sunday at Ford Field. Detroit’s winning stretch started with a 15-9 win over the Packers on Nov. 6 at Ford Field. In that game, quarterback Aaron Rodgers passed for 291 yards but was intercepted three times (Kerby Joseph for two, Aidan Hutchinson for one). 

Since that Nov. 6 matchup, the Packers (8-8) have also won seven of nine, including a 41-17 dismantling of the Vikings (12-4) on Sunday.

“This defense is a very good defense, the special teams you saw it, they have the ability to make plays in their return game. Offensively, they’re playing better. They are. We talked about it as a staff, this is a better football team than we played the first time,’’ Campbell said. “Then the’ve got Aaron Rodgers, we all know he’s one of the best to play the game.’’

Campbell said the key to Green Bay’s recent success is they are clicking in all three phases and that’s what makes them dangerous.

However, the Lions are not the same team either.

“We’re better too, we’ve made a jump as well. We’re better too, there’s not question. The win started us in the right direction the last time we played them and we really haven’t looked back,’’ Campbell said “This is one of those games you look forward to being a part of, as a player, as a  coach, the fans are going to love this.I just think it’s great.

Even if the Lions don’t get that playoff berth, playing a meaningful game in Week 18 is part of the growth of this young team.

“I think this is what you want them to taste. They need to feel this. They need to understand what this is because this has got to become the norm. This has to become the norm, and then once you get – you start to understand this. Then, it becomes – you’re playing for the Division, you’re playing for where your seeding is going to be. That’s coming,’’ Campbell said. “But right now, to get a taste of all this right now and be in the hunt, be in the run, I think is huge for our guys.”

Even with a win over the Packers, the Lions need the Rams to beat the Seahawks on Sunday to get into the playoffs. If the Rams don’t come through, the Lions can play spoiler to the Packers who just need a win over Detroit to make it to the postseason.

(Next up: Lion at Packers, at 8:20 p.m. on Sunday.)

Lions defense makes one more play, solidifies 15-9 win over Packers

DETROIT — One more play, that’s what Lions coach Dan Campbell always preaches. Apparently the team was listening because on Sunday, against the NFC North division rival Green Bay Packers, the Lions dug deep and did just that.

It led to a 15-9 win that broke a five game losing streak for the 2-6 Lions. It was the fifth straight loss for Green Bay (3-6).

“I’m proud of our guys. They just don’t go away. They just, they believe they can win every week. They put it in and we made one more play today,’’ Campbell said. “We made one more play than they did to win the game.’’

Campbell gave defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn the game ball.

While the offense scored enough to win, it was the defense that forced three turnovers that was the difference.

“(Glenn) coaches his heart out and he put everything into it, as he always does, and those guys responded,’’ Campbell said.. “We knew we needed takeaways today. A minimum of two is what we talked about, and  Kerby Joseph came up big. Hutch (Aidan Hutchinson) got one. But as a whole, that defense, man, they rose up. You know, I thought we played aggressive. I did think we challenged on the perimeter.’’

Aaron Rodgers and the Packers (3-6) had no answers. Rodgers, who had four interceptions in the first eight games, had three on Sunday and all were in the Red Zone. Two were by rookie safety Kerby Joseph and the other was by rookie defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson.

The Packers had other chances to score. With two minutes left in the fourth quarter Green Bay got the ball back at their own 43 after the Lions failed to convert on a fourth-and-3. Two minutes is a lifetime in the NFL so time wasn’t an issue, the Lions defense was. After converting a fourth-and-2 with a 32-yard pass to Samori Toure, the Packers were at Detroit’s 17-yard line. Four incomplete passes later — again, thanks to sterling defense —, Lions quarterback Jared Goff took a knee for the win.

“Well look, I just think it’s – look, I felt like we had a good plan for (Rodgers). And just how we wanted to play, look, you have to disguise. I mean you have to. And he’ll take it all the way down to the wire to get a bead on what you’re doing. And then, if you have an opportunity, you have to make the most of it, and we did that today,’’ Campbell said.

Leading up to Sunday, Campbell had fired defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant on Tuesday and Brad Holmes had traded tight end T.J. Hockenson for draft picks. Still Campbell was able to get his guys to focus on getting the win.

The Lions got on the board first just before halftime when Goff connected with tight end Shane Zykstra, who was wide-open, from one yard out for a score. Jamaal Williams ran it in for the 2-point conversion. 

Rodgers connected with Allen Lazard for a 20-yard touchdown play, but the two-point conversion failed thanks to a pass breakup from Lions corner Jeff Okudah. So the LIons held an 8-6 lead. 

Early in the fourth quarter, on a third-and-goal from the 3-yard line, rookie tight end James Mitchell caught his first career touchdown. That gave Detroit a 15-6 edge. The Packers’ Mason Crosby kicked a 25-yard field goal. And that was it.

After the win on Sunday, the workhorse Campbell looked emotionally drained.

“Of course it feels good. I’ll be honest with you, I’m exhausted, so like I want to go home, put the feet up, drink a beer. So it feels real good. I’m just proud of them. I really am. I’m proud of our coaches. I’m proud of the players,’’ Campbell said. “I’m proud of everybody because everybody puts a lot of work into it. I know it’s only two (wins), but my gosh man. And there again, to see, end of the game, man, one stop, our defense comes through. I just think we need that, we needed that.’’

NOTES: Safety Kerby Joseph, who ended the game in concussion protocol, had a breakout game with 10 tackles (five solo), three pass defenses and two interceptions. He became the first Lions rookie to produce a two-interception game since S Devon Mitchell in 1986 and the first Lions safety to record a two-interception game since S Louis Delmas in 2013. … Linebacker Derrick Barnes had a career-high 12 tackles (four solo), one tackle for loss, one pass defense and one  sack. He is the first Lions linebacker since Julian Peterson in 2010 to produce a game with at least 10 tackles, one pass defense and a sack. … Rookie defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson logged two assisted tackles, one pass defense and one interception. The first-round pick became the Lions’ fourth rookie defensive lineman to record an interception, joining Ndamukong Suh (2010), Jim Doran (1951) and Thurman McGraw (1950). He joins Suh as the only Lions rookies to produce at least 4.5 sacks and one interception in a season. … The Lions now have 1,073 rushing yards through the first eight games of the season. This marks their most rushing yards through the first eight games of any season since 1998.

(Photo courtesy of Detroit Lions.)

(Next up: Lions (2-6) at Bears (3-6), at 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 13)

Five things to watch as the Lions host Packers; plus prediction

When the NFL schedule makers scheduled the Green Bay Packers at the Lions this week, it could have been a key NFC North matchup. Well after seven games, not so much.

The Packers (3-5) are tied with the Bears in the division while the Lions (1-6) are once again hanging out in the basement.

Detroit traded away tight end T.J. Hockenson this week but they insist winning each week is still the goal. Coach Dan Campbell, whose record is 4-19-1, insists the team is close. And, by the way, he doesn’t believe this team is cursed.

 “No, I don’t man. I do not, I can’t go there. I’m not going to allow myself to go there because I just feel like for me as a coach, or for us as players, that’s an excuse,’’ Campbell said. “And I think you create your own vibe, your own mojo, you create your own energy. And I think the more you buy into that, believe that, that’s what you become, so no, I’m not buying that.”

Five things to watch as the Lions host the Packers:

1.Can the defense regroup after a coaching shakeup cost defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant his job. The defense is dead last in the NFL ratings. Miami’s TuaTagovailoa had his way with the Lions passing for 382 yards. Not one of his passing attempts was thrown into tight coverage where there was a defender within one yard or less of the receiver at the time of completion on incompletion, according to Zebra Technology. That is one atrocious stat. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said the focus is to win now. “I think every decision that’s made is made to win. Period. Some guys might not understand that, but it’s made to win,’’ Glenn said. “If it’s in the future, but every decision’s meant to be made to win right now. I know that’s how I look at it.’’

2. Aaron Rodgers has been inconsistent but he is completing 66.4 percent of his passes and has thrown just four interceptions against 13 touchdowns. He is always dangerous.  “Well, they still have that guy (Rodgers), so as long as you have that guy you have a chance,’’ Glenn said.

3. Speaking of quarterbacks, Jared Goff threw three touchdown passes in the first half against the Dolphins, but couldn’t get the offense on track in the second half due to penalties and drops. He never found a rhythm with just three second-half possessions and he said the issues were mostly self-inflicted. “That’s kind of the frustrating part. I wish I could say, ‘Yeah, the defense came out and did something we weren’t expecting and it kind of caught us off guard.’ And that hasn’t been the case,’’ Goff said. “It’s been self-inflicted, and for a variety of reasons, but this past week unfortunately, it was some penalties. I think though, with that being said, how can we – like every team is going to have a bad drive here or there. They’re going to have penalties, they’re going to have turnovers. How do we put it away and move on and get back to what we do quicker the next drive, respond? And I think that’s kind of where the emphasis is put, less on, ‘Hey guys, let’s avoid mistakes,’ more on, ‘Hey, let’s respond after them.’”

4. The offense will regroup in a fashion to make up for the absence of Hockenson who had 26 catches for 395 yards and three touchdowns. Look for tight ends Brock Wright and James Mitchell to be more involved and the wide receivers too. Campbell said he was honest with the team about the trade. “I told them that what I have to judge is, well, where does his production go now? And I have to feel OK with that production going to (WR Amon-Ra) St. Brown, (WR Kalif Raymond) Leaf, (WR Josh) Reynolds, (RB D’Andre) Swift, another carry for (Lions RB) Jamaal (Williams) and the other tight ends. And I feel OK with that,’’ Campbell said.

5. After trading the top tight end and firing an assistant coach, the Lions have to remain focused. Campbell said he was straight with them about Hockenson, calling it a business decision. It was a tough call to fire Pleasant but obviously he thought it was necessary. The organization hasn’t given up for the season even though it may look like it from afar. With straight talk and solid leadership within the team, they have to keep playing like it matters. It will be obvious if they don’t.

INS and OUTS: Injuries continue to be an issue. Four are out: CB Chase Lucas. S Ifeatu Melifonwu, T Matt Nelson and CB A.J. Parker. WR Josh Reynolds (back) is doubtful while LT Taylor Decker (groin), DE Charles Harris (groin), D’Andre Swift (ankle/shoulder) and Brock Wright (concussion protocol) are questionable. 

(PREDICTION: Packers 35, Lions 21.)