Tag: Alex Anzalone

Five things to watch as Lions return to Ford Field, face Titans

Also injury updates from both teams, prediction

Lions coach Dan Campbell is not taking the Tennessee Titans lightly. Sure they’re 1-5, but he has a four-word replay: “Look at the tape.”

The Titans visit Ford Field on Sunday looking to snap a two-game losing streak.

“It’s a dangerous team, they’ve got a lot of weapons across the board, it’s an outstanding defense. Yards wise it’s the No. 1 defense in the league,’’ Campbell said. “Outstanding on third down.’’

The Lions (5-1) seek to extend their win streak to five games and to stand alone atop the NFC North after the Vikings (5-2) lost to the Rams on Thursday night. They know they can’t overlook the Titans. Those who were with the Lions in 2021 certainly understand the situation.

“They’re still a really good team. I think back to when we were 1-6 in 2022. I think they’re going to come out hungry and ready to go, we have to be ready for them,’’ linebacker Alex Anzalone said. “We’ve been there, we know what it’s like in their shoes and what they’re still fighting for. This is the NFL and every team is really good in my opinion. They have talent all over the field. It’s just about them putting it together.’’
Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said the record don’t matter in the NFL.

“You can get your ass kicked at any given time and we understand that because we were in Tennessee’s shoes before. We were that team that we were out for blood every week, I know this team feels the same way,’’ Glenn said. “Listen, they have names, they have players, they have high draft picks that want to come out and establish dominance, but we have to do a really good job of just understanding what the task is at hand.’’

Five things to watch:

ONE: Jared Goff’s play in recent games has the Lions offense on fire. He’s put up amazing numbers with seven touchdowns and zero interceptions in the last three games. Still, he’s not cocky and certainly not overlooking the Titans. “I think this defense is as good as any defense we’ve played up to this point and we know that. I’m not just blowing smoke or anything,’’ Goff said. “I know their record doesn’t show that but it’s a good defense, they’re good at every level and we’ve got our work cut out for us for sure.”

TWO: The Titans offense led by quarterback Will Levis is dead last in the league in passing offense and 21st in rushing offense with Tony Pollard and Tylae Speers as the leading rushers. Levis has thrown at least one interception in every game. “I think they do a good job, their run game first and foremost. That’s the focus this week. They do a really good job of scheming up runs and we have to bring a certain mentality to this game to defend it that’s what sets everything else up for them,’’ Anzalone said. Worth noting that if Levis goes to the air it’s risky since Lions safety Brian Branch has three interceptions in the last two games.

THREE: Turnovers have been an issue for the Titans. The Titans have a dozen giveaways and just three takeaways. In comparison, the Lions have five giveaways and 11 takeaways. “You flip that just a little bit and they’re not sitting where they are,’’ Campbell said.

FOUR: Lions running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery seemingly set new records each week. Gibbs had the hot hand in the win at the Vikings, it could be Montgomery this week.  Each produced at least 70 scrimmage yards for the sixth-straight game to start the season. This is the longest streak of games where each member of a running back duo has logged 70 scrimmage yards since Saints RBs Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara in 2017. It’s a two-headed monster that defenses haven’t found a way to stop with the Lions averaging 155.5 rushing yards per game. The Titans’ defense allows just 105.5 rushing yards per game so something has to give. Expect Gibbs and Montgomery to be ready.

FIVE: The Lions will be without WR Jameson Williams who has been suspended for two games by the NFL. While Williams had just one catch last week for minus-4 yards he’s a pivotal part of the offense. In his absence Kalif Raymond will fill in. “You know what you’re getting each and every day. He comes in with a great attitude and he’s willing to do whatever it takes. If you told him, ‘Hey, you’re going to have 10 snaps this week and they’re all run blocking,’ he’s going to attack that with a vigor, and he just loves playing football and being out on the field for his teammates,’’ offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said. “And so, when you combine that mentality along with – he’s got probably the best press releases on the team because of how small and shifty he is, guys can’t keep up with his quickness, he’s a threat in man-to-man, and then his run after catch is that of what you would expect from a punt returner. So, a very dynamic weapon, there were some games earlier in the year, didn’t feel like we were giving him enough opportunities, and so the last couple of weeks we’ve been able to get the ball in his hands and he’s taken it and ran with it.” Also look for WR Isaiah Williams to be brought up from the practice squad and possibly more reps for veteran WR Allen Robinson. 

LIONS INJURY UPDATE: DL Josh Paschal (illness) and G Christian Mahogany (illness) are out.

TITANS INJURY UPDATE: RB Tylae Spears (hamstring), LB Jerome Baker, T Jaelyn Duncan (hamstring), LB Cedric Gray (shoulder) and CB L’Jarius Sneed (quad) are out; CB Jarvis Brownlee (ankle) and QB Will Levis (right shoulder) are questionable. 

LIONS SATURDAY MOVES: OLB Al-Quadin Muhammad and TE Shane Zylstra elevated from practice squad.

PREDICTION: Lions 35, Titans 15

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.

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.