Tag: Amik Robertson

Lions process fact that their season is over so abruptly after divisional loss

ALLEN PARK — Less than 24 hours after the heart-breaking, divisional round loss, 45-31, to the Commanders, the Lions were cleaning out their lockers and saying goodbye on Sunday. Lots of hugs. A few questions.

As the No. 1 seed the Lions expected to at least make it to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history. Now they are going home, garbage bags of locker goodies thrown over their shoulders, like Santa.

Center Frank Ragnow said the process of dealing with the finality of it starts now.

“Try to channel it, use it whether it’s anger, sadness, whatever it is, try to use that as motivation into the offseason,’’ Ragnow said on Sunday.

He said coach Dan Campbell’s message to the team was along those lines. “Never forgetting that feeling of watching them celebrate across the field and listening to them in the locker room, just never forgetting that,” Ragnow said.

Defensive tackle Alim McNeill was hobbling through the locker room on crutches. He tore his ACL in the loss to the Bills on Dec. 15 and is recovering from surgery. He said he’s on pace but does not have any type of timeline for returning. He watched the game from home.

“It’s tough, definitely tough. Not what anybody expected this year. We put in a lot of work, we had a goal set for this year, things took a different turn and we’re kind of here and now,’’ McNeill said. “It happens, it’s definitely tough, kind of hard to swallow, nobody knows what to think about it really. It’s definitely tough.’’

It was a team loss with the defense unable to stop Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels and the offense unable to hold onto the ball. Teams with five turnovers rarely win a game.

Quarterback Jared Goff had a rough night throwing three interceptions. He was having trouble processing it immediately after the game.

“I think we all look within and that’s part of it, if you get to this level you’re always going to be looking at yourself before you’re pointing fingers and that’s what makes us as good as who we are,’’ Ragnow said. “That’s what makes (Goff) great. He’s going to feel it, it’s going to burn. But we all know everybody on this team had a hand in last night. We as a team just didn’t play well enough to win.’’

It’s all new to rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a sense of shock, it’s a sense of that team they outplayed us that night you have to get back to it and the only way to ease the pain is to get back to the drawing board,’’ Arnold said. “There’s always somebody who’s dealing with something way worse than a lost football game. I love the game of football, I put my life into it, I know my teammates do and I know we’ll be back.’’

No question the current locker room is loaded with young talent, but in the NFL rosters are fluid which may have made Saturday’s loss even harder.

“I would say the hardest part is just knowing the room will be different. Even in the locker room after the game we took time to say, ‘Guys really cherish this  moment in the locker room because it’s going to be different,’’’ Arnold said. “That’s been the hardest thing of being in the NFL, normally in college you go back and see everybody. But the NFL is a business, people get better opportunities which I know they’ll take those, I’m happy they’ll take those. It’s hard because you get close to a person and then they leave.’’

Ragnow, who just finished his seventh season with the Lions, sees a bright future.

“One hundred percent. There’s so many talented dudes in this room, not only talented but the right mindset. Just the right wired guys that are willing to do whatever it takes for their teammates and put it on the line,’’ Ragnow said. “Again, I’m just so grateful to be a part of this locker room because there’s a lot of special dudes.’’

AND THIS: When cornerback Amik Robertson broke his arm early in Saturday’s game, teammate Terrion Arnold was right there on the field. “I thought it was kind of cool that when I was praying over him, Jayden (Daniels) came right there and we prayed over him together,” Arnold said. “It’s one of those things, it’s bigger than football.” Robertson was scheduled to have surgery on Sunday.

Lions take the NFC North title and No. 1 seed with 31-9 win over Vikings

Five reasons they were able dominate, starting with defense

DETROIT — Jahmyr Gibbs provided four touchdowns and the Detroit Lions defense frustrated the Minnesota Vikings holding them to just three field goals.

It was a combination that worked to perfection with the Lions topping the Vikings, 31-29, on Sunday night at Ford Field to win the NFC North for the second straight year. And, perhaps more importantly, to earn the NFC’s No. 1 seed which comes with a bye week and home field advantage until the Super Bowl.

The Lions finished the regular season at 15-2 with the Vikings dropping to 14-3. It was the first time in franchise history the Lions won consecutive division titles.

“That’s a good team over there, they’re well coached, a ton of weapons and we were able to contain them and keep them at bay until our offense was able to find our rhythm,’’ coach Dan Campbell said. “Total team effort, started with our defense and took the whole unit.’’

In recent weeks, franchise records were shattered. It’s been a season that diehard fans had just dreamt about. Time to pinch themselves, these Lions are for real. Campbell, who is in his fourth season in Detroit, shares the credit but he and GM Brad Holmes have built this team, starting with a 3-win season in 2021. It reflects Campbell’s gritty personality. 

“I just told them to me, this has been in the making for a while. It takes a special group of guys and I think you had to go through what we’ve been through the last four years, the core of this unit,’’ Campbell said. “Anybody that comes in, they fall in line because that’s what we’re built around, our core. They really delivered for us today. Our playmakers made plays when we needed it.’’

Five of the reasons the Lions won:

ONE: The defense, which was sparked by the return of linebacker Alex Anzalone, came up big from the get-go. The Vikings were 0-for-4 in the red zone with two turnovers on downs inside the 5-yard line. Remember they won 14 games this season with Sam Darnold having a career year.  “I can’t say enough about our defense, let’s start there. AG (defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn) and this defense, they really controlled that game for us, particularly the first two and a half quarters,’’ Campbell said. “The guys on defense I thought executed exactly the way we had worked and what we had talked about. We were able to apply a lot of pressure and it paid dividends.’’

TWO: Cornerback Amik Robertson also got a game ball. His task most of the night was to defense wide receiver Justin Jefferson, usually a powerhouse. But not on Sunday night. Jefferson was targeted nine times and caught just 3 passes for 54 yards. Campbell said this was the reason they signed Robertson who is in his first season with the Lions. “He’s as competitive as they come,’’ Campbell said.

THREE: The defense, which has so many of its key players out with injuries, has faltered at times but really is a reason the Lions lost just two games. Alex Anzalone’s return after being out seven weeks with a broken forearm was huge. “He’s really our quarterback on defense and he just brings, a lot of confidence, he brings, a lot of energy, he can calm the storms,’’ Campbell said. “To have him back, I thought it was going to take him a minute to work himself back in, It didn’t take long at all and he was back to what he was before he got injured. We gave him a game ball.’’ They didn’t work him back in, he played every defensive snap. Afterward Anzalone said his arm was sore. He’s happy to get the bye week for the rest and to celebrate his son’s birthday on Saturday.

FOUR: Jahmyr Gibbs’ first few runs looked like it might be a tough day for him. But he warmed up, broke through and scored all four of the Lions touchdowns—three rushing and one receiving. “He was big and I felt like he gained steam as the game went on. I thought he got better and better and better. You could really feel it after that last stop we got in the Red Zone, the next carry he just breaks it down the sideline,’’ Campbell said. “He was big for us and we felt like he was going to need to be big for us to win that game. All those guys needed to play well but we felt like that Gibbs could somewhat be the X-factor here and he did and he showed up in a big way in the run game and the pass game.’’

FIVE: Jared Goff kept the offense rolling even when it seemed to stutter a bit in the first half. The Lions took a 10-9 lead at halftime and then the offense started rolling in the third quarter. He threw a pair of interceptions but the defense was able to bail him and the offense out a few times They all worked hand in hand and it showed. “It’s fun, it’s what we talked about when we first got here. Certainly when I first got here was the opportunity you dream about being able to win division championships in the NFC North, and then ultimately win Super Bowls, that’s what’s next for us,’’ Goff said. “This is fun and exciting and we obviously wanted it really bad and we’re going to enjoy the heck out of it, but it’s Step One. In some other world it would have happened a few weeks ago but it happened Week 18.’’ Goff produced his ninth game of the season with a completion percentage of 75.0 percent, passing Tom Brady (8 in 2007) for the most in a season in NFL history.

INJURY UPDATE: CB Terrion Arnold left the game with a foot injury in the first half. Campbell said the X-rays were negative but it was quite tender. Said he’d know more on Monday. 

UP NEXT: The Lions will have a bye week to rest up.