Tag: football

Five things to watch as the Lions attempt to bounce back against the Broncos

The playoffs in sight for both teams, the Denver Broncos visit the Detroit Lions on Saturday night at Ford Field.

The Lions (9-4) are coming off a loss at Chicago, while the Broncos (7-6) have won six of seven, including Sunday’s 24-7 win over the Chargers.

This game was moved to primetime for what’s on the line and it should be intense especially with the two coaches going head to head. Lions coach Dan Campbell played for Denver’s Sean Payton and was an assistant to him while with the New Orleans Saints. To say more is on the line is an understatement between the two coaches who know each other so well.

Campbell doesn’t think it’s an advantage for either one. He said it evens out.

“I think he has a pretty good idea about what we want to do and our process, just like I do his being in there. And so, look, he’s not going to shy away from being who they are and what has gotten him to this point,’’ Campbell said. “They’re going to lean on those. However, he’s going to have the wrinkles, he always does. And I just – I bring it back, man he is – in this profession, in games, he’s a stone-cold killer. So, that’s why I say – he’s going to be looking for it. And we’re going to be prepared for it. But we think very much the same way, so we’re looking forward to this. 

“This is going to be an outstanding matchup. This is a good team. They’re playing really good football. They’re playing smart, clean football. And that’s why they’re winning,’’ Campbell added.

Five things to watch:

1. While not all of the offensive woes are the fault of quarterback Jared Goff, he needs to play a clean, error-free game to get the offense rolling like it was early in the season. With losses in two of the last three games, the offense has sputtered. “I wish there was one thing you can put your finger on, but there’s not. It’s just plain execution and doing what we’re supposed to do, and it starts with me leading that charge and getting us back on track,’’ Goff said.

2. The Broncos excel at takeaways which has been an issue for the Lions who are not good at it. “We emphasize it, we drill it. Unfortunately, over the last four weeks we haven’t done a good enough job with our ball security, and we know this team is feast or famine,’’ offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said. “When they get the takeaways, they capitalize on it and they’re winning ball games because of it. And so, we’re highly aware of it. We’ve got to do a better job protecting the ball this week than we have the last four games. They aren’t just good in their takeaways, I think the other thing that stands out to me the last eight weeks, they’re the No. 1 third-down defense in the NFL. So, they’re doing a great job stopping offenses when they get them into that situation, so we’ve got to be on point here on third down this week.”

3. Lions offense and defense need to play a solid third quarter. The Lions have outscored opponents in every quarter except the third where it’s not even close. Opposing teams have 84 third-quarter points against the Lions, while Detroit has scored just 46 points in that stretch. “It’s frustrating as much as it is for everyone else, it’s very frustrating for us,’’ Goff said. “And we’re very aware of it and we know we have to continue to be aware of it and continue to try to find ways to be more productive in the third quarter and that’s everybody and I wish there was one thing that, again, that you could point to as the reason why, or one thing that fixes it, but there isn’t. It’s just plain execution, it’s plain focus, it’s plain doing our jobs a little bit more consistently in that quarter.”

4. The defense could have its hands full with quarterback Russell Wilson who can run the ball when needed. “I know he picks his chances when he does want to run and you really see it on third down and in the red zone, which most quarterbacks do anyway. But he has that ability to escape. I mean they have some read-zone plays in there for him which I would utilize his legs too,’’ Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said. “He’s not just a statue back there. He’s able to make some plays with his legs and you see that happen in the games.” Wilson has thrown 23 touchdowns against just eight interceptions, but four of the eight picks have come in the last two games. 

5. The offensive line, which looks to be healthy once again, has to protect Goff. The Broncos sacked Chargers quarterbacks six times last week. Ragnow has missed the last two games which has affected the line’s performance. He’s expected to return.

INJURIES: LT Taylor Decker (back), DT Benito Jones (neck), FC Frank Ragnow (knee, back, toe) and WR Josh Reynolds (back) are all questionable.

PREDICTION: Lions 27, Broncos 24.

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.