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Detroit Lions’ penalties, turnovers lead to 28-13 loss at Chicago Bears

Dan Campbell said lack of discipline was the culprit

A few weeks ago, the Lions needed a last-minute touchdown to beat the Chicago Bears.

On Sunday at Soldier Field, it was a different story. Self-inflicted wounds — eight penalties and three turnovers — buried the Lions.

Down six points at the start of the fourth, the Lions could not get anything going and left the Windy City with a 28-13 loss. It was the Lions’ second loss in three games.

“That’s a tough pill to swallow, but it is what it is. I thought we played hard, I thought we did some really good things at times. But honestly it was the discipline. The penalties cost us today, that’s the story of the game,’’ coach Dan Campbell said.

While Detroit (9-4) is still atop the NFC North, they have lost two division games and will face the Minnesota Vikings twice in the last three games.

The Bears weren’t flawless but they did not turn the ball over and they only had four penalties.

“I’m not in panic mode, I’m not losing confidence. We’re good, we’ve got four to go. All we’ve got to do is get our discipline back and continue to fight like we fight,’’ Campbell said. “It wasn’t our day today, we didn’t handle it. When you do that to yourself against a good team, that’s what happens and this is a good team. We’ll clean it up and move on, that’s what competitors do.’’

Campbell said he will need to be a little more irritable to get the team back to a more disciplined mode.

Five of the reasons the Lions lost:

1. The Lions defense could not stop quarterback Justin Fields. He’s more of a threat rushing, but can also find an open receiver when under pressure. He’s not one of the best QBs in the league, but he seems to mystify the Lions defense. They should have been better prepared. He finished 19-33 for 223 yards, one passing TD, 58 rushing yards and one rushing TD. “The discipline, that’s the biggest thing. Early in that game, Field is running around, he got us a few times, then we settled in on defense,’’ Campbell said. “I thought we played pretty good. The second half we got put in some tough spots but all in all we just couldn’t score enough points either.’’

2. Jared Goff was just off. He threw two interceptions and lost a fumbled snap. That’s easy to diagnose. But he also had trouble finding open receivers and if he found them they had a problem holding onto the ball. He went to WR Amon-Ra St. Brown twice in the fourth quarter and he couldn’t hold on to either one. He was 20-35 for 161 yards, one TD and two interceptions. “You get in this type of game with that type of wind and you don’t want to be living in these passing downs, these second-and-longs, third-and-longs, that’s where we had to function because we weren’t good enough on some of our first-down efficiency,’’ Campbell said. “That’s where we’ve been good.’’

3. The offensive line was without center Frank Ragnow, so Graham Glasgow moved to center and Kayode Awosika got his first start at right guard. They opened the lanes for the running backs who amassed 140 rushing yards against the NFL’s top rushing defense. Goff was sacked four times. Still Campbell thought they protected well. “It’s the nature of that type of weather. You’ve got a passing game like ours, you try to play with timing and rhythm it’s not the easiest thing to do,’’ the coach said.

4. The third quarter continues to be 15 minutes of miserableness for the Lions who led 13-10 at the half. Sunday they had zero first downs in the third. They got the ball to start it and could do nothing with it and the defense allowed 18 second-half points. So far this season the Lions have been outscored 84-46 in the third quarter, while they’ve got the scoring edge in the other three quarters.

5. The defense had a few good stretches, but inconsistency has been an issue most of the season, even during wins. With the talent available, more is expected. They did get to Field – sacking him three times and pressuring him often but he was able to overcome that too often. Early in the second quarter they stopped DJ Moore on a fourth-and-1 run. Momentum seemed to shift for the remainder of the half, but it didn’t last into the third.

UP NEXT: Denver Broncos at Lions on Saturday, Dec. 16, at 8:15 p.m.

Five reasons the Lions lost to Broncos

Jamal Agnew returned a punt for a touchdown

The Lions extended their losing streak to eight games with a 27-17 loss at the Denver Broncos on Sunday. It was hardly a surprise. The Lions were big underdogs going in even though the Broncos (6-9) haven’t had a great season either.

The Lions fell to 3-11-1 and currently own the No. 3 draft pick.

Five reasons for the loss:

1. Detroit’s defense appeared to collapse in the fourth quarter. Stop me if you’ve heard this before. One key reason for the Lions’ sad-sack record is that they are unable to finish on defense or offense. The Lions held a 17-13 lead entering the fourth quarter and then the Broncos scored 14 unanswered points. The Lions forced several three-and-outs early in the game but apparently the Broncos’ offense made adjustments and the Lions couldn’t adjust.

2. Quarterback David Blough started out completing four-of-five passes on the opening possession that resulted in a Matt Prater field goal. The Lions’ only touchdown in the first half was courtesy of a 62-yard punt return by Jamal Agnew. The score was tied 10-10 at the half, but it felt like the Broncos had the momentum. Blough finished 12 of 24, 117 yards, 1 TD and a 78.0 rating. Kerryon Johnson made his return from injured reserve with 10 carries for 42 yards.

3. Blough was sacked twice in the loss to Bucs last week, but suffered double that in Denver. Part of that is on the injury-ridden offensive line, but also Blough can take some of the blame. He’s a rookie and it shows in his lack of pocket presence.

4. Kenny Golladay stretched out over the goal line for a third-quarter touchdown that gave the Lions a 17-13 lead. The wide receiver maintained control of the ball and the review confirmed the officials’ call on the field. He had six catches for 66 yards. Golladay set a new single-season career-high in receiving yards (1,118), passing his previous record of 1,063 set in 2018.

5. If the Lions had a chance to win one of their final two games, this was it. They are at home against the Packers next Sunday. Could be an ugly Sunday at Ford Field but mercifully the season will be over. Merry Christmas.

(Photo courtesy of the Detroit Lions)

Lions’ Matt Patricia forges on; focuses on final 2 games not his future in Detroit

ALLEN PARK — Matt Patricia is focused on the Lions’ final two games this season more than his immediate future.

With the Lions at 3-10-1, there is no guarantee the coach will return for a third season.

“For me, one of the things that you realize pretty quick when you get in the game of football – college, NFL, it doesn’t really matter what it is – coaching is a tough profession. Playing is a tough profession. It’s a mindset that you probably just develop early on,’’ Patricia said on Monday following the 38-17 loss to the Bucs on Sunday.

“When I was in other places and worked at other places, part of the thing that just makes me, me, is that I go into work every single day trying to earn my job that day. I would go in and make sure that my key card worked, and I was in the building and I was OK,’’ he added.

Patricia, who often spends the night at the Lions facility, even showed a little sense of humor in his reply.

“It’s most of the reason why I don’t leave the building because they’re going to have to throw me out, like I’ve said before,’’ Patricia said. “From that aspect of it, that’s all you can control is just your effort that day and your drive that day to be better as a player, as a coach, as a team, and that’s all I really worry about.”

He was seen talking at length on the sideline prior to Sunday’s game to owner Martha Firestone Ford and her daughter Sheila Ford Hemp but he never discloses the content of their discussions. If he knows his future with the team, he is not saying.

“I just expect to be here every day until they tell me not to. Hopefully, that’ll be a long time,’’ Patricia said.

The Lions went 6-10 in his first season and have fallen on hard times this season. They’ve been hit with a ton of injuries. When they placed Kenny Wiggins and Mike Daniels on injured reserve on Monday they joined a dozen other teammates in that classification.

Despite seven straight losses, Patricia always emphasizes that the team continues to fight. The toughness and competitive spirit of the players is a foundation for building a perennial winner.

“I think that’s where you need to start, and I would say that’s where we’re at right now,’’ Patricia said. “We obviously need to add some pieces, and we need to get better, and we need to improve, and hopefully stay a little bit more healthy than where we’re at right now. I think those things will build on top of each other from there.”

The Lions play at the Denver Broncos (5-9) on Sunday and then wrap up the season against the Green Bay Packers (11-3) at Ford Field on Sunday, Dec. 29.