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Lions Dan Campbell gives 3 reasons that Jared Goff hasn’t been sacked in 3 games

Dan Campbell gives three reasons why the Lions have now allowed a sack in three straight games which is a franchise record.

Jared Goff was sacked four times in the opening loss at Green Bay, but has not gone down in the three straight wins. He’s been pressured but not sacked.

“It’s always going to start with the O-line. The way those guys work together. We talked about our two tackles, then how they all work in unison, sometimes turning the protection away and with all things being equal sliding one way — you’re helping the center which helps the guard, the guard helps the tackle. Those guys are working together really well,’’ Campbell said.

Goff couldn’t agree more.

“They’ve been awesome. They’ve really done a good job. In particular, this past week with that front, it’s really hard,’’ Goiff said. “Yeah, I’ve done my best to get the ball out and try to stay upright. I think that helps them and they help me, and it’s a good thing going right now.”

That brings us to Campbell’s reason No. 2.

“Goff has been outstanding in the pocket. His pocket presence when he’s chosen to step up , when he’s chosen to move,’’ Campbell said. “It’s been right-on. That helps big-time.’’

Goff said it’s something he works on. He’s not sure if he’s better now than in the past but it’s a work in progress.

“This year, I’ve done a pretty good job of it, but it starts when you – I could answer this question really long, but when you don’t have a lot of pressure, it’s easy to feel when there is one pressure. As opposed to when there’s always pressure, it’s hard to feel when it’s actually and when it isn’t,’’ Goff said. “That’s when you see a lot of guys scrambling when they don’t need to. I think when our O-line has been as good as they’ve been, when one guy does get edged, it’s easy to feel that and for me to move. And that makes it a whole lot easier for a quarterback.”

Thirdly, Campbell credits the receivers who are getting open with speed.

“They’re playing with urgency in the pass game. Those guys have to out-run the rush,’’ Campbell said.

It almost sounds simple, but if it was this would not be a record since sacks became an official stat in 1982.

“When you do all three of those things, good things happen,’’ Campbell said.

UP NEXT: Lions (3-1) at Cincinnati Bengals (2-2), 4:25 p.m. on Sunday.

Lions Jameson Williams, Jared Goff get back to work after missing on 6 of 8 targets

Jameson Williams’ maturity showed on Monday and Wednesday after an off day in the win over Cleveland on Sunday. He was targeted eight times and made just two catches for 40 yards. Certainly not a typical outing for the fourth-year wide receiver.

“I think that was probably the biggest growth we saw when he came in on Monday. You have to come in ready to be coached, and especially when you have a room where the coach is going to be direct, is going to hit the point, but also going to make sure we know the standard is set,’’ wide receivers/assistant head coach Scottie Montgomery said on Wednesday. “And we don’t walk past the standard because the moment you walk past the standard then it’s dropped and that’s the new standard. He understands that part of it.’’

Montgomery said Wiliams was focused on the details in Wednesday morning’s walk-through which would carry over into practice.

Coach Dan Campbell and Montgomery both mentioned that the Lions had one less practice day last week due to playing on Monday and back on Sunday. They didn’t want to use it as an excuse but it played a role in the connection issue.

Neither seems too concerned that it will be a lingering problem because they know Williams and Goff will work on it.

“There’s things I chalk it up to. We have to clean up some things. You can’t act like nothing happened,’’ Montgomery said. “You have to go out and see what the problem was, the issue was. There’s some things we’ll practice a little differently.’’

Goff said it was not a communication problem between him and Williams especially on the deep ball when Williams tried to turn around to catch it.

“I think I missed it a little bit outside. And I think if he was able to come up with that, it would have been him kind of saving my ass to some extent making that play,’’ Goff said. “And it’s one I know he would love to make, and I love him to make, and he can make that catch. It’s a hard catch, though, it’s a really hard catch. But yeah, I think it’s more so me putting the ball where I want to a little bit more inside on him, making that catch a little bit easier and I’m sure he can come up with it.”

Campbell and Montgomery are on the same page. Campbell said it’s just a few things here and there.

“Eyes back a little sooner, Goff just misses on one, he kind of gets hit on one when he’s trying to release the ball. We’re just a little bit off, and I go back to this, we go back to the drawing board,’’ Campbell said.

In the first three games Williams was targeted a dozen times and caught 8 for a total of 176 yards and a touchdown.

After a bit of a rough start in his career, he has trended upward each season.

“When I first got here I don’t know if Monday that would have been possible or today that would have been possible because it would’ve been more about ‘Did I perform at the level I wanted to perform at?’ Now it’s gotten to the point where he’s ‘OK, did I perform at the level I want to perform at? OK, why not and how do I get it fixed.’

“That’s the maturation process that we hoped and we saw. It’s also good to have people in your room to pull you along – whether it’s (David Montgomery) or (Amon-Ra St. Brown) – to pull you along and let you know everybody’s had those,’’ Scottie Montgomery said. “It’s very similar to a back putting the ball on the ground and having to come back after putting the ball on the ground. It’s the growth that happens between the time that you put the ball on the ground and when you go back in.’’

UP NEXT: Lions (3-1) at Cincinnati Bengals (2-2), 4:25 p.m. on Sunday.

Five reasons the Lions topped the Browns for third straight win

The Detroit Lions could have had all the excuses in their pocket – short work week after a Monday night game, coming off a huge win in Baltimore, playing against the NFL’s top defense in the Browns. It was all there. But, if you haven’t noticed, this team is wired differently.

It certainly showed in the 34-10 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at Ford Field. It marked the Lions third straight win.

“We knew going into this game our defense was going to need to set the tone and special teams. Offensively we’d be smart, find our spots and, for the most part, that’s the way the day went,’’ coach Dan Campbell said. “Those three takeaways, (Kalif Raymond) on the punt return (TD) and offensively we were able to turn those three takeaways into 17 points which is huge.’’

Aidan Hutchinson sacked QB Joe Flacco twice, Flacco was intercepted twice and the Browns lost a fumble.

Take away the punt return touchdown and the Lions’ offense scored 27 points against a tough defense, but they had too many penalties and missed opportunities.

“We can be so much better certainly offensively —defense played outstanding. That is a good defense. They present a lot of problems,’’ quarterback Jared Goff said. But he admitted many little things could have been better and pointed the finger at himself on many of them including the two false start penalties.

While Detroit’s defense allowed a touchdown on the Browns’ opening drive, they held them to just a field goal for the remainder of the game.

Five of the reasons the Lions won:

ONE: The Browns’ top-rated rushing defense had not faced a team with a running game like Detroit’s which finished with 109 rushing yards. The longest run the Browns had allowed in the first three games was 11 yards. Jahmyr Gibbs gashed them for a 24-yard scamper early in the second quarter and a 22-yarder late in the third. Gibbs finished with 15 carries for 91 yards and a touchdown, along with 2 catches for six yards. David Montgomery had nine carries for 12 yards.

TWO: Jared Goff was solid under pressure except for his one interception – an underthrown pass intended for Jameson Williams. Goff took the blame for that, saying he made a bad decision. He targeted Williams eight times but they could not connect until there was 11:10 left when Wiliams caught a 27-yard pass on a third-and-9 play. Williams finished with two catches for 40 yards. Once again – you may have heard this before – WR Amon-Ra St. Brown came up big on the biggest plays including a 2-yard receiving touchdown where he was wide open in the end zone and late in the game a 8-yard touchdown catch. He has six touchdowns in the last three games.

THREE: The Lions offensive line stood up against Myles Garrett and Cleveland’s defensive line. Goff was not sacked at all. He was hurried and pressured which may explain why it wasn’t his best game statistically. But he made enough plays when needed. Goff finished 16 of 27, 168 yards, 2 TDs and one interception. Goff said they had a plan facing Garrett and credited tackles Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell, along with the whole line, for doing the dirty work to protect him.

FOUR: Flacco was intercepted twice with D.J. Reed and Kerby Joseph ah coming up with the big plays. He was pressured often and sacked three times – two of them by Aidan Hutchinson who has had sacks in three straight games. “Just another big performance by him today. What everybody sees – the quarterback hits, the sacks, the takeaways, all big things that are right in front of your face,’’ Campbell said. “The guy plays the run too. He can do all of that stuff that gets you all the glory but he does all the dirty work. He plays with his hair on fire, he doesn’t take plays off, he’s relentless, he’s aggressive, he’s violent, he’s smart, he’s disciplined. It’s good to see him back playing at a high level. It’s good to have him back period.’’

FIVE: Detroit’s special teams came up big, highlighted by Kalif Raymond’s 65-yard punt return for a touchdown to give them a 27-10 cushion early in the fourth. “He’s amazing. He’s one of those heartbeat guys for us,’’ Goff said. Campbell echoed Goff’s praise. “I don’t know if I can say enough great things about Lif. He’s such a stud,’’ Campbell said. “…He was aggressive, he trusted our guys. He was fearless the whole game.’’

UP NEXT: Lions (3-1) at Cincinnati Bengals , 4:25 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5.