Tag: chicago bears

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 things to watch as Lions wrap up the season at Chicago Bears; injury updates

It may be the final game of the season, it may not count for anything in the standings, and certainly has no playoff feel but Lions coach Dan Campbell is focused on playing the Bears on Sunday. That’s it. The coach is not looking to the future — yet.

“I know we have one more and I owe it to these guys, to the players and coaches to be locked in for another game here. Because it’s not fair to go out there and say that we’re going to do everything we can, prepare to win but we’re not really doing that,’’ Campbell said. “Then we shouldn’t even go out there. So, I’m not there yet. There are things that have crossed my mind, but I’m so far from all of that. Got to get ready for this one.”

“Well, they are playing for a lot. They are. I’ve asked this the last two years, I’ve sat up there with different players that got an opportunity and I said, ‘Did you give everything you had? Because you had an opportunity to play.’ They played in the last game of the year. ‘And knowing that, knowing that this probably is your last game, did you give everything you had? Was all your focus in it? Was it really? Because there’s no guarantee that you’re going to get a chance to play again or start again.’ You’re just not, every year is different,’’ Campbell said. “There are very few players you could say, ‘That guy, I know, is going to start next year.’ I mean I think – Penei Sewell is probably going to start. I mean yeah, we know that. But it doesn’t go that way with everybody. We’re going to have to reload and go back to the basics of some of the things we do and get back to what we were in ’21, ’22 a little bit.”

Five things to watch:

ONE: Can the run game get back into gear. Detroit has not rushed for 100 yards in three straight games and lost all three. “It’s been a work in progress, obviously. I think it’s a – like with Chicago, I think we can get after these guys a little bit, I really do. They’re giving up almost five yards a carry, so I like our chances there with this defense,’’ offensive coordinator John Morton said. “So, I like the matchup here and I liked it the first game. But yeah, I mean it’s always been a big emphasis every single week, the run game and trying to get it going. And sometimes you get behind the eight ball and you’ve got to throw it and sometimes you don’t get the right looks and sometimes we just aren’t executing. We all have our hand in all of this, so it’s just a little bit of everything.’’

TWO: The offensive line has not lived up to standards recently especially with the injuries forcing starters out and inexperienced guys to step up. The bad news is that RT Penei Sewell (ankle) is out. Looks like LT Taylor Decker and C Graham Glasgow could both return after missing last week’s game. That should help.

THREE: Jared Goff is coming off his worst game of the season with five turnovers — two interceptions and three fumbles. Look for the veteran QB to get back on track. “It’s what I’m paid to do. I’m the quarterback of this team and paid to play on Sundays and do my job and do it to the best of my ability. It doesn’t matter what our record is, what the situation may be, that’s my job,’’ Goff said. “And it’s about – I think Dan talked to us about this earlier – it’s about respect. Not only respect for yourself within your own team, but respect around the League. We want to go out there and put something good on tape, gain a little bit of respect back from probably some of the loss of respect we’ve earned this year.”

FOUR: Rookie WR Isaac TeSlaa has 11 catches in the last five games and four of them were touchdowns. He’s taking advantage of increased opportunities with the injuries to TEs Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright. “He’s done a really good job. And I would say he’s probably grown more than anybody has throughout the year, as far as our young guys. He’s grown the most,’’ Campbell said. “Just – and what you love about him is why he’s here. Of course he’s got ability, but he’s smart, he’s instinctive, he’s tough, he’s a finisher, he’s resilient. Every week we’ve been able to put more and more on him. He’s serving a lot of different roles, playing a lot of different positions. But he’s just continued to – he’s one of those guys that broke through probably that rookie wall at some point and just kept going. And that’s what you want. Those are the guys you’re looking for.”

FIVE: As a play caller, Campbell’s approach will be the same in this final game.  “I’m going to call it to win. I’m going to call it to win. But I think it’s just a little different,’’ Campbell said. “I mean we’ve got some really good skill players and trying to get those guys the ball and finding ways to create opportunities for those I think is the biggest thing. That’s where it starts right now.” The Lions beat the Bears, 52-21, in Week 2 so Bears coach Ben Johnson could be looking. for a little revenge.

LIONS INJURIES: OUT — LB Alex Anzalone, RT Penei Sewell, OL Trystan Colon, S Thomas Harper, DT Alim McNeill; QUESTIONABLE — OL Kayode Awosika, LT Taylor Decker, G Christian Mahogany, T Giovanni Manu and WR Amon-Ra St. Brown.

BEARS INJURIES: OUT — DL Joe Tryon-Shoyinka; QUESTIONABLE — DB Jagaun Brisker, DB Nick McCloud, OL Ozzy Trapilo and WR Romeo Odunze.

PREDICTION: Bears 24, Lions 17.

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.