aidan hutchinson – Page 13

Detroit Lions stay calm, come back from 12-point deficit to beat Bears, 31-26

DETROIT — While there is no easy explanation for Detroit Lions’ two-touchdown comeback for a 31-26 win over the Chicago Bears, coach Dan Campbell said when the pressure went up, their heart rate leveled out.

No one appeared frazzled, no one shrugged his shoulders. Instead the Lions, who are 8-2 for the first time since 1962, went calmly about their business. They weren’t playing well with four turnovers and the defense struggling to contain Bears quarterback Justin Fields. Didn’t matter.

With 4:15 left, they were down 26-14 and there was no doubt in their minds that they still had a chance.

“As long as we have the ability to get a stop and we’ve got three timeouts, we can do anything. We had three timeouts and we were close,’’ Campbell said. “They’re sitting there with the lead, they’re going to do what they need to do to hold that and not do something too aggressive, if we could just find a way to get a stop I felt pretty good about where we were going to be at.’’

Before the final defensive play when Aidan Hutchinson strip-sacked Fields for a safety, Campbell said he had a few words for the defense.

“I remember him saying something like you’ve got to love this -hit,’’ linebacker Alex Anzalone said. “When you see a head coach, and you know he’s an offensive-minded head coach, when you see him come out and see him do stuff, alright let’s go. It’s fun to play for him. It’s the most fun I’ve had playing football probably in my whole career.’’

Turns out winning is fun.

The Lions are still atop the NFC North and are 2-0 in division games. They face the Green Bay Packers (4-6) on Thanksgiving at Ford Field.

Five reasons the Lions won:

1. Jared Goff will be the first to tell you he didn’t play his best game with three interceptions. One ball was tipped, on another Sam LaPorta ran into a defender, but on the third he threw it right at the defender. That all won’t be remembered as much as this two-minute drives. One ended the first half, giving the Lions a 14-10 halftime lead. Then with 3:29 left he hit Jameson Wlliams on a 32-yard touchdown pass to get within 5 points. Then he drove the offense down the field ending with a David Montgomery TD run and a 2-point conversion to take a 29-26 lead with 29 seconds left. “Here’s what we know about Goff, at the very least he’s going to be mentally tough and physically tough,’’ Campbell said. “You can bank on that. Today he showed his resiliency.’’

2. For three and a half quarters, the defense struggled to stop Fields and the Bears offense. But with the game on the line, they came through big-time. With 2:59 left the Bears got the ball with a 26-21 lead. The Lions defense needed a stop for a chance to win and they got it, forcing a three-and-out. “We just embody our head coach, we feed off him, we feed off what he preaches to us, we’ve all bought in to how we operate and how we go about doing things,’’ Anzalone said. “At the end of the day we know we’re always in the fight with the talent we have on our team and the want-to we have on our team. It really starts top down.’’

3. Aidan Hutchinson’s strip sack for a safety with 29 seconds left, sealed the win. It was huge. “That to me, those are the moments we are built for. That’s how we have to think,’’ Campbell said.

4. Running back David Montgomery lined up against his former team for the first time since signing with Detroit. He tried to downplay the matchup earlier in the week. He was all in. On the final game-winning drive Montgomery had two catches for 22 yards and three runs for 23 yards, including the 1-yard TD run to win the game. “What you see is what you get with David. He’s steady, he’s reliable, he’s explosive,’’ Campbell said. “He can help you in pass game, run game protection. If there’s anything I say I wish we could’ve gotten him the ball more. He was huge for us on those last couple of drives.’’ Montgomery finished with a dozen carries for 76 yards and 2 catches for 22 yards.

5. Wide receiver Jameson Williams had two huge plays. He made a beauty of a catch for 12 yards on a third-and-1 just before the half. That allowed the drive, which resulted in a touchdown, to continue. Then in the fourth quarter, Williams’ 32-yard touchdown catch got the Lions within 5 points. Both were key plays in the win and showed the trust that the coaches have in Williams. “He’s part of the herd. He’s been accepted and the way he works and the way he goes and blocks, and he’s starting to run some pretty good routes and making some catches,’’ Campbell said. “A lot of guys are starting to trust him and that’s been earned.’’

Next up: Green Bay Packers (4-6) at Lions (8-2), 12:30 p.m. on Thursday. The Lions defeated the Packers, 34-20, at Green Bay in Week 4.

Five things to watch as Lions face Bucs at Tampa Bay; plus, prediction

With a 4-1 record, good enough to lead the NFC North, Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell admitted this week that the team is having fun.

“You’re putting in the world and it’s paying dividends,’’ Campbell said.

The Lions are blowing up a few franchise records and not just winning games, but winning them convincingly. They’ve outscored their opponents 96-50 in the last three games. All wins, by the way. It’s the first time since 1997 that the Lions have won three straight games by 14 or more points.

The Lions have produced at least 350 total net yards in each of the first five games of the season for the second time in team history and the first since 1954.

They cannot let the foot off the pedal with Bucs (3-1) coming up on Sunday at Tampa Bay at 4:25 p.m. (The game was flexed from its original time of 1 p.m.)

“Tampa is playing good football right now, 3-1. I’ve coached with (Bucs coach) Todd Bowles at Miami, known him a long time. I think he’s an excellent coach. He’s doing a great job out there,’’ Campbell said. “Playing good defense, they’re committed to the run on offense. Baker (Mayfield)’s playing good football. They’re plus-seven in the turnover ratio, which has been big for them. They’re converting on third down. Defensively, they’re stingy in the red zone, so we’ve got our hands full.’’

Five things to watch:

1. Stopping the run has been a key to the defense. They’ve allowed a measly 342 yards through five games in team history since at least 1932. They can’t let up against Tampa Bay RB Rachaad White, the top rusher with 206 yards, averaging 3.3 yards per carry.

2. On the other side, Lions RB David Montgomery has been carrying the load and showing no signs of letting up. He’s the first Lions to rush for 100 yards and a touchdown in consecutive games since 2004. “He’s a stud. He’s a stud. He’s fit in just perfectly with us and does such a great job every day,’’ Jared Goff said. “And obviously, you guys see him on gameday, the stuff he does, but his leadership, his ability both in the run and the pass, his attention to detail in protection I think is pretty special for a running back.’’

3. Getting pressure on the quarterback is another key to the defense’s success. Defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson has 35 quarterback pressures in first five games which is tops in the NFL. They’ll have their hands full with Baker Mayfield who is the Bucs’ second leading rusher.

4. Jared Goff may be playing the best football of his career. He has total control of the offense, completing 69.8 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and 7 interceptions. He’ll need his offensive line to come up big again against NT Vita Vea. “He’s one of the best players at his position in the League and can move the pocket, can push the pocket, can play well in the run game as well,’’ Goff said. “But yeah, he can get in the backfield and cause some problems.” Of course Goff has got a few good weapons like Amon-Ra St. Brown (who could play this week), WR Josh Reynolds who has stepped up this season and rookie tight end Sam LaPorta who is playing like a veteran with 25 catches for 289 yards and three touchdowns.

5. The Lions must play with the intensity that they’ve displayed in these first five games. This should not be an issue with Dan Campbell leading them. “I mean any time you win, it’s fun. It makes everything a little bit lighter. There’s a little more peace to it in the moment. … You want to just continue to try to stack them up and get better than you were and so it’s a good thing right now,’’ the coach said.

PREDICTION: Lions 31, Bucs 28. Tampa is coming off their bye so they’ve had more time to prepare. However, Detroit is on such a roll just can’t see a Lions’ loss.

Detroit Lions take care of business against Panthers; 5 reasons for 42-24 win

DETROIT — Each week it’s a different challenge and for the fourth time in five weeks, the Detroit Lions stepped up and finished with a win. The Carolina Panthers were no match for the Lions in Detroit’s 42-24 win at Ford Field on Sunday.

The Lions (4-1), and in first place in the NFC North, were coming off a big win at the Green Bay Packers while the struggling Panthers (0-5) were looking for their first win.

“I’m not worried about the opponents you can see eye to eye, cause I believe we can compete with anybody and beat anybody in this league,’’ coach Dan Campbell said afterward. “It’s the ones you don’t see coming.’’

These Lions seem to be up for the challenge. And while Campbell deflected a question about whether they have taken on his personality, it is clear that they have.

“You tell your team (your) just concerns and you talk about it and your team tells you, ‘Coach ,freaking relax’ and they did that today,’’ Campbell said. “They came out and set the tone for the game and really never let off the gas.’’

They jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, were up 28-10 at the half and added a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to seal the win.

These Lions are 12-3 since last Halloween. The 42 points was the most they had scored since a 48-45 loss to Seattle on Oct 2, 2022.

Five reasons the Lions won:

1. Turns out the turnover battle was no battle at all. The Lions’ defense forced a fumble which resulted in a touchdown pass to WR Josh Reynolds 10 plays later. Also DE Aidan Hutchinson reached in and made a one-handed interception of Bryce Young which led to a touchdown pass to Sam LaPorta four plays later. And CB Jerry Jacobs picked off Young on a first-and-10 at Carolina’s own 23. Next play Goff threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to LaPorta. Seems like a trend. “To come away with three takeaways and turn that into 21 points offensively, that’s complementary football. Just an outstanding job by those players,’’ Campbell said. “They don’t care who we play, it’s competition and they show up.’’ The Lions’ offense did not turn the ball over.

2. Quarterback Jared Goff continues his stellar play. He completed 20 of 28 passes (a few were dropped) for 236 yards, three passing touchdowns, one rushing score and zero interceptions. “There’s always more Goff can give and that’s a great thing because he is playing at a high level right now. I love where his confidence is at,’’ Campbell said. “We came out saying we wanted to throw the ball early in this game and he was on fire. We have a tremendous amount of confidence in him.’’

3. DE Aidan Hutchinson grabbed his first interception of the season and it was a one-handed beauty. He also had a sack, two TFLs, a quarterback hit, a pass defense and three tackles. Just another Sunday.

4. Running back David Montgomery fits the Lions like a glove – Campbell’s words not mine. While Jahmyr Gibbs (hamstring) was inactive, Montgomery took most of the rushing load and averaged 5.7 yards per carry for 109 yards and a touchdown. His kookiest play was a direct snap from Frank Ragnow that went between the legs of Goff to Montgomery on a third-and-6. Goff said they practiced it all week to get the timing down. It worked. Montgomery ran up the gut for 10 yards and a first down and two plays later Goff scored on a one-yard quarterback keeper. RB Craig Reynolds got work in the fourth quarter and scored his first career touchdown on a five-yard run.

5. The Lions were missing two key starters in WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (abdomen) and DB Brian Branch (ankle). No problem. Others stepped up. “We’ve been doing it for three years. I guess at some point you get better at it,’’ Campbell said. “This is something we talked about after ‘21. We have to assume we’re going to lose a significant amount of our starters in the year. That’s the assumption, now what do we do with the guys we have on this roster, how do we utilize them and have enough to produce against the opponent.’’ It’s a puzzle they seemed to have solved at least for the first five games.

BY THE NUMBERS: Sunday was LT Taylor Decker’s 100th start. He got emotional talking about the support he’s had from his family and how much he appreciates the fans. … Rookie TE Sam LaPorta scored on a pair of touchdowns. He finished with four catches for 47 yards. … WR Josh Reynolds stepped up in absence of St. Brown with four catches for 79 yards and one TD. … WR Jameson Williams saw his first action this season after a four-game gambling suspension. He dropped the first ball that Goff sent his way. He had two catches for 2 yards. Campbell said he just wanted to get Williams on the field and acclimated. He said he was not disappointed. … The Lions finished with 377 net yards. It is the first time since 1954 that the Lions have had more than 350 net yards in each of the first five games. … LB Alex Anzalone finished with a team-high 11 tackles. He also had two quarterback hits and was a force throughout. … CB Jerry Jacobs intercepted Young, his third interception in five games.

UP NEXT: Lions (4-1) at Tampa Bay Bucs (3-1). The Bucs had a bye on Sunday.