Amon-ra St. Brown – Lions Lowdown

Five reasons the Lions wrapped up the season with a 19-16 win at Chicago

The season finale meant something to coach Dan Campbell and it showed when they came back for a 19-16 win at the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

Campbell’s words all week were not empty. He challenged his guys to play like it mattered and they listened.

“Good win by the guys, proud of them, that’s the way to finish. I didn’t expect anything different out of them just knowing the guys we had, but nonetheless I’m still proud of them,’’ Campbell said.

“It’s not the easiest thing – you get eliminated, it’s hard for some guys, you’re back out in the elements with a team that’s already clinched. But our guys fought from the beginning, we were up two scores, they came back, our guys didn’t bat an eye and we were able to finish it out. It was one of the best games we played as far as complementary football,’’ the coach added.

While it’s never good to finish the season out of the playoffs, the win gave them a 9-8 record for the season. It was their fourth straight winning season.

“I believe that things happen for a reason, right, wrong or indifferent. When something like this happens I believe it’s going to be for the best. It’s up to Brad (Holmes) and I to make it for the best,’’ Campbell said.

Five reasons the Lions won:

ONE: The run game made its return after missing in action for a few weeks and, like Campbell said early in the week, that is everything. Jahmyr Gbbs carried 19 times for 80 yards while David Montgomery picked up 42 yards on 8 carries. Gibbs also had 3 catches for 33 yards including a touchdown. Campbell said the offensive line really showed up and they were without RT Penei Sewell.

TWO: The defense played lights out, keeping the Bears off the scoreboard until early in the fourth quarter. This game meant something for Chicago which was aiming for the NFC’s second seed but they appeared to sleepwalk through the first three quarters. They had no answers for the Lions defense until they scored on a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The Bears were held to 69 total yards in the first half and 270 overall.

THREE: Jared Goff had a real rhythm going from the first two drives when they had to settle for field goals. He kept it going throughout. One of his passes was tipped which led to an interception late, but the offense came back and set up a 42-yard game-winning field goal as time expired. Goff was 27 of 42 for 331 yards, one touchdown, one interception and he was sacked twice. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown finished with 11 catches for 1394 yards.

FOUR: Dan Campbell was at his best on play-calling. He was steady, not too cute and it worked. He knew the strengths of his guys on the field and made it work.

FIVE: While the Lions had nothing to play for, you wouldn’t know it. They were out to win and it showed. It’s never good to end a season out of the playoffs, but it is good to show some real fight and signs of life in the season-ending game.

Five reasons the Lions lost a crucial game to the Steelers; playoff hopes diminished

It was too little too late for the Lions. On their final offensive play, fourth-and-goal from the Steelers’ 9-yard line, Amon-Ra St. Brown caught the ball and pitched it to Jared Goff who ran in for a touchdown. But after the officials’ discussed it for nearly 2 minutes, it was determined the offensive pass interference penalty called on St. Brown negated the score. Time was out. The Lions lost 29-24.

“I don’t even want to get into it, it’s not going to change anything, we still lost,’’ coach Dan Campbell said. “You think you scored, you don’t score and then you think you’re going to have another play. Replay it or back it up and have one more shot. I guess that’s the way it’s written in the rule book. That’s frustrating but there again it shouldn’t have come to that.’’

An NFL game can end on an offensive penalty but not a defensive penalty.

It was the second offensive pass interference penalty called on the Lions in that series. Six plays earlier wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa’s PI penalty negated a St. Brown touchdown.

The intensity and spark of a Dan Campbell coached team seemed lacking for about three quarters of Sunday’s game and it was costly. The offense found more rhythm in the fourth quarter, but came up short.

The Lions, who were playing for a chance to get in the playoffs, saw their record fall to 8-7. Detroit’s chances of getting into the playoffs dropped to 8 percent. It was the first time they lost back-to-back games since October 2022.

Five reasons the Lions lost:

ONE: The Lions defense had no answer for the Steelers. Coming into the game the most yards Pittsburgh had gained in a game was 396. They ran up 481 yards (230 rushing) on the Lions. Aaron Rodgers was 27-of-41, 266 yards and 1 touchdown. The Steelers controlled the ball nearly the entire third quarter. The Lions offense had just three snaps and the third one was a safety. Pittsburgh was 2-of-2 fourth downs and 8 of 16 on third downs.

TWO: The Lions could not establish a run game. At all. They finished with just 15 rushing yards. Prior to Sunday, the Lions rushed for less than 100 yards in five games and lost all five. So they knew they needed the ground game. Running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery were healthy. The offensive line was missing starting center Graham Glasgow. Montgomery had 4 carries for 14 yards while Gibbs had 7 carries for 2 yards. They averaged 1.3 yards per carry. “Certainly I wish we could’ve run it more. I would love to run the ball more than that, a lot more than that,’’ Campbell said. “It just was one of those days.’’

THREE: Goff threw for three touchdowns but couldn’t find a consistent flow for the offense. He didn’t throw an interception but came close twice early in the fourth and again later that quarter. He was hurried and pressured which certainly played a role and wasn’t helped with center Graham Glasgow out. With no run game, it’s tough to get the pass game going. Goff finished 34-of-54 for 364 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

FOUR: In such a crucial game, you’d expect the Lions to come out with an intensity unknown to mankind. They looked flat early on. Aidan Hutchinson sacked Aaron Rodgers twice early but even those plays didn’t spark the defense. Physical play is the Lions trademark but on Sunday they couldn’t match the Steelers’ physicality.

FIVE: Campbell obviously was frustrated after the loss. He knows the playoff chances are much slimmer now but he also knows they have two games remaining — at the Vikings on Christmas and then at the Bears on the last weekend. “I want to see us play with our identity, what we are and what we’re about. We’re big boys in this League, pull your pants up and go to work,’’ Campbell said. “You can’t feel sorry for yourself, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting, it doesn’t feel bad. But we have nobody to blame but ourselves. It’s on us and it’s also on us to finish.

UP NEXT: Lions (8-7) at Minnesota Vikings (7-8), 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Christmas Day.

Five reasons the Lions lost, 41-34, to the Rams; still a chance for playoffs but it’s slim

It certainly wasn’t the outcome the Lions wanted. After they were beaten, 41-34, by the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday their playoff chances took a hit, a big hit.

“We’ve got to get better, we have to move on. We can’t sulk about it, we can’t feel sorry for ourselves, we make the corrections and move on,’’ coach Dan Campbell said.

The loss dropped their chances of making it into the playoffs to around 40 percent. They would have to win their final three games to have a chance. A win over the Rams would have boosted that to 73 percent. The Lions dropped to 8-6 and remain third in the NFC North and out of the playoffs.

“My message is don’t go numb when you get these losses – win, lose, win lose,’’ Campbell said. “We have to get out of that rut – it can’t be OK. It should burn at you, it should eat you up, do not go numb to the losing. It’s as simple as going back to work and we have to play better with Pittsburgh coming to town.’’

The coach said he doesn’t believe for a minute that any of his players have lost confidence. He said they’re frustrated because they don’t like losing.

“I go back to this, the core of this group, they’re the right guys. They’ve been through this,’’ Campbell said. “Most of those guys know what the dumps look like and we’re not in the dumps. They know what that was like – back to back to back to back losses. You don’t ever want to even get a taste of that again.’’

Five reasons why the Lions lost:

ONE: The third quarter did not go well for the Lions on either side of the ball. The defense gave up 24 points and 272 yards in the second half, while the offense could manage just 10 points in the second half, all in the fourth quarter after amassing 24 first-half points. “The third quarter we have to be able to stop the bleeding offensively and we weren’t,’’ Campbell said. “We never got our run game going. I thought (Jared) Goff, (Amon-Ra St. Brown and (Jameson Williams) played their tails off. I thought they played at a really high level to give us a chance.’’

TWO: Detroit’s defense just couldn’t stop the explosive plays from Matthew Stafford and the Rams’ offense. Stafford was 24 of 38 for 368 yards, a pair of TDs, one INT and he was sacked twice. Puka Nacua had 9 catches for 181 yards while Colby Parkinson had 5 catches for 75 yards and two TDs. The Rams run game was effective with Kyren Williams (15-78, 2 TDs) and Blake Corum (11-71, 1 TD). “We knew that team didn’t make mistakes, it cost us. We couldn’t do enough,’’ Campbell said.

THREE: The Lions could not get the run game going which is usually key to the offense. On the plus side, Jared Goff had a solid game finding A,on-Ra St. Brown (13 catches, 163 yds, 2 TDs) and Jameson Williams (7 for 135 and 1 TD). Goff finished 25 of 41 for 338 yards, 3 touchdowns and was sacked once. “When you can’t get the run going, it limits what you can do and what you can do off of it,’’ Campbell said. “I don’t regret for one minute getting the ball to St. Brown and Jamo but we’ve got to get the run game going.’’

FOUR: Aidan Hutchinson intercepted Stafford early in the first, but it was the defense’s only takeaway of the game and it wasn’t enough. In the previous win over Dallas, the three takeaways were huge.

FIVE: Campbell’s play-calling in the second half was somewhat confusing at times. Yes, he wanted to get the run game going, but on a third-and-11 inthe fourth quarter, he put the ball in the hands of Jahmyr Gibbs who just could not break through. They settled for a field goal when a more aggressive approach might have paid off.

UP NEXT: Pittsburgh Steelers at Lions, 4:25 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 20 at Ford Field. The Steelers face the Dolphins on Monday night.