David Montgomery – Page 3

Lions’ critical errors lead to 27-24 loss to division rival Vikings

DETROIT — Coming off a bye week, the Lions should have been rested and ready to start a crucial portion of the season. They were facing the Vikings who had lost three of their last four games and were starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy who had only played in two games.

It was a game Detroit should have won, but nobody told the Vikings who edged Detroit, 27-24, at Ford Field on Sunday.

It was an afternoon of miscues for the Lions in all three phases. Usually if one group is having a rough day the others can compensate. Not on Sunday. Coach Dan Campbell said he thought they would play well.

“Ultimately it’s probably one of the worst games we’ve played in a long time. We looked rusty, we looked out of sync, we were undisciplined and didn’t make plays – not enough of them,’’ Campbell said. “That’s evident. I didn’t have them ready and got to do a better job.’’

The Lions marched down the field easily on their first possession for a touchdown, but then it was all Minnesota. It was only close because Jared Goff connected on a 37-yard touchdown pass with Jameson Williams with 1:55 left.

Goff said that Campbell told the players that a little adversity isn’t always the worst thing for you. “You can say it if you use it correctly and move forward correctly. But if you look back on this moment as a turning point for us, it will only be that if we make it that,’’ Goff said.

The Lions dropped to 5-3 and hold on to second place in the NFC North while the Vikings are 4-4.

Five reasons the Lions lost:

ONE: Too many errors in all three phases – including 10 penalties costing 76 yards. Blame cannot be placed on one unit – it was a team issue. “We did everything we needed to do to lose that game. We made every critical error you need to at the right time to lose it. A perfect storm,’’ Campbell said. “When you don’t play on all 3 phases that falls on the head coach – that’s me. I did not have them ready coming out of a bye. We made too many critical errors. Some of our discipline, penalties, caught up to us. There were some things we were out of synch, we never looked comfortable. We didn’t make enough plays, we had multiple opportunities to set ourselves up to have a chance to win that game and we made none of them, really. I have to clean some stuff up.’’

TWO: The Lions’ run game was ineffective to say the least, averaging 3.3 yards per carry. David Montgomery appeared to have broken a long one when he fumbled and lost the ball in the third quarter. Jahmyr Gibbs started but couldn’t get going all day, finishing with nine carries for 25 yards. Montgomery carried 11 times for 40 yards and scored on a 2-yard touchdown run.

THREE: Jared Goff had little time to pass. It was the worst performance by the offensive line since Week 1. He was sacked a season-high five times. He said communication was an issue. “A couple times. It’s inexcusable they made it hard and it caused us to have a few miscommunications,’’ said Goff who was 25 of 37 for 284 yards and two touchdowns. “They did a good job pass rushing. They had a good plan on defense,’’ Goff said. “They always are hard to play against defensively. They do a good job over there. I have a ton of respect for the way they do things. They got after us up front, gave us some pressures we hadn’t seen and did a good job on defense.’’

FOUR: Third downs were an issue going into the bye week, so the Lions focused on them during the week but the results didn’t change. They converted on just 5 of 17 (29.4 percent). First of all, Campbell said it’s just too much to have 17 third downs. “I don’t know if concern is the right word but we have to clean it up,’’ Campbell said. “We’ve got to find the right balance to help us convert. We’ve probably got to do a couple things a little differently.’’ Oddly enough the Lions were 3 of 3 on fourth downs.

FIVE: The defense couldn’t stop McCarthy in just his third NFL game. His yardage was not off the charts but he made the right plays at critical times. He carried nine times for just 12 yards but one of those was a touchdown. He threw for two other scores. He was 14 of 25 for 143 yards, was intercepted once and sacked five times. Much more is expected from the defensive line.

UP NEXT: Lions (5-3) at Washington Commanders (3-5), 4:25 p.m. on Sunday, Nov 9.

Five reasons the Lions topped the Bengals for 4th straight win

It was smooth sailing for the Lions in Cincinnati, until the Bengals offense found a bit of life in the second half.

Down 28-3, the Bengals came back in the second half scoring 14 straight points on two touchdown passes from Jake Browning to wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. Then another touchdown late in the fourth on a pass to Tee Higgins.

It wasn’t enough. The Lions won their fourth straight game with a 37-24 victory in Cincinnati late Sunday afternoon. In all four wins the Lions have scored 34 or more points.

“That’s a good win. We’ll take that. Do we have things to clean up, was it perfect? No, it wasn’t. But man we did what we needed to do,’’ coach Dan Campbell said. “I thought our guys were ready to compete, we fought. Once again we played complementary football. That’s what great teams do. We always find a way. I thought our defense came out hot, they set the tone for the game.’’

Campbell preaches complementary football every week and they provided it for him agains Sunday.

“When we need help the offense responds, we go all the way down the field, flush it out and open it back up again,’’ Campbell said. “I’m proud of the guys, that’s a good win.’’

Five reasons the Lions won:

ONE: Turnovers. “When you really start getting good at them, you start hunting for them. Our guys are hunting for them, they become contagious,’’ Campbell said. “This is the first time since I’ve been here that we’re getting them in bunches early in the year.’’ Bengals QB Jake Browning was intercepted three times, and the Lions scored following two of those. Credit Amik Robertson, Kerby Joseph and Alex Anzalone with interceptions. Linebacker Derrick Barnes sealed the win with a sack and safety with less than 2 minutes left. The defense came out on fire and made Browning’s life miserable early. Aidan Hutchinson’s strip sack early in the fourth was recovered by the Bengals. Hutchinson also had a safety negated on a penalty and was pressuring Browning all day.

TWO: Jared Goff was sacked twice in the first half. One was a sack-fumble, recovered by the Bengals. It wasn’t all on Giovanni Manu, who was starting in place of the injured Taylor Decker, at left tackle, but Decker was missed. Campbell said Manu had ups and downs in his first NFL start. Goff had gone 3 straight games without being sacked. But credit the Bengals defense for sacking him twice more in the second half. Goff led the offense to a 14-3 half-time lead and after the Bengals closed the gap to 28-17, Goff led a five-minute drive resulting in a 12-yard touchdown pass to rookie WR Isaac TeSlaa. Goff finished 19-23 for 258 yards and three touchdowns.

THREE: RB Jahmyr Gibbs scored on a 20-yard pass play from Goff. He is the first Lions player to produce four rushing TDs and one receiving TD through the first five games of a season since Jahvid Best in 2010. Gibbs has scored a TD in six-straight games against AFC opponents. He had 12 carries for 54 yards and two catches for 33 yards.

FOUR: RB David Montgomery was playing in his hometown of Cincinnati where he was a quarterback in high school. He’s still got the arm. On a wildcat play from the 3-yard line, he tossed a touchdown pass to Brock Wright. He also ran in from the 8-yard line to score. Sunday marked the 14th time that teammates had reached the endzone in the same game. All in all, a good homecoming. He finished with 18 carries for 65 yards. Campbell called Montgomery one of the team’s heartbeat guys, saying everyone respects him and roots for him.

FIVE: The Lions defense was solid in the first quarter. They let up on the Bengals’ last drive of the first half which resulted in a field goal. However, Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase and Browning connected for a pair of touchdowns in the second half. With just three minutes left, Browning connected with Tee Higgins for a touchdown.

BY THE NUMBERS: WR Amon-Ra St. Brown had 8 catches for 200 yards. He has passed Brett Perriman (5,244) for the fourth-most receiving yards in franchise history. .… TE Sam LaPorta caught 5 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown. … It was the 14th time that Montgomery and Gibbs have each reached the endzone in the same game. … Goff has tied an NFL record by completing 70 percent of his passes in six-straight road games. … LB Jack Campbell led defense with 11 tackles and a forced fumble.

UP NEXT: Lions (4-1) at Kansas City Chiefs, 8:20 p.m. on Sunday, Oct 12. The Chiefs (2-2) play the Jaguars (3-1) on Monday night football.

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.