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Super Bowl preview? Five things to watch as Lions welcome Bills

In what could be a Super Bowl preview, the Detroit Lions (12-1) host the Buffalo Bills (10-3) at Ford Field on Sunday.

It’s a good angle but not one that the Lions are emphasizing.

“The head coach said it best early this week, we have earned a spot in the tournament based on what we’ve done thus far. We still need to win the division, we still want to get the No. 1 seed, and everything will play out from there. But that’s all way too far out in the future right now,’’ offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said.

While the Bills, who lead the AFC East, are coming off a loss to the Rams, the Lions have won 11 straight despite having 13 defensive players on injured reserve.

No excuses, the Lions just march forward and keep winning.

“This whole year has felt like he’s preparing this club for these type of moments. Not just these type of moments but moments like fourth-and-1 where we were all excited when it happened and when it went down because we understand what we’ve been prepared to do,’’ Lions running backs coach Scottie Montgomery said.

“Coaches, players, administration, everybody we’re on the same page so we understand what’s going on. We’re happy to be in these moments and our guys understand the reason this is a big game is because they’re in it. That’s one big part – it wouldn’t be a big football game if we weren’t playing at a certain level,’ he added.

Coach Dan Campbell said the Lions need to be playing their best football.

“You don’t know what it’s going to take to beat the team that you’re getting ready to play. You don’t know what that’s going to be. We know that this is a good football team, I don’t know what it’s going to take. We know that Green Bay is a damn good team. We did just enough, but you don’t know what it’s going to take with the rest of these teams down the line and you don’t know exactly who’s going to be in, you don’t know – and so are you willing to say that it’s good enough right now? I’m not,’’ Campbell said. “I don’t want to take that chance, so we have to clean some things up and we will.”

Five things to watch:

ONE: The Lions running game was not up to standard in the win over Green Bay. Running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs had one of their less productive games but it is not all on them. “You’re going to get four or five opportunities in a game where everything is blocked correctly – everything the perimeter, center, the interior – those have to be explosives. I’m not saying that happened this week but we have got to continue to make sure it happens,’’ running backs coach Scottie Montgomery said. “Then when there’s a 4-yard run you have to be able to get 5.’’

TWO: The defensive line welcomes back four who have been injured which will help in pressuring quarterback Josh Allen and stopping running back James Cook. Alim McNeill, Levi Onwuzurike, Josh Paschal and D.J. Reader are all a go for Sunday. “We’re going to put a lot on our defense this week. Our defense and special teams are going to play a critical factor in this game,’’ Campbell said. “So, yeah, it’s critical, but it’s going to take all three phases here and I expect our defense to play well.”

THREE: Lions secondary faces challenge in Josh Allen who has completed 64.1 percent of his passes and thrown just five interceptions against 23 touchdowns. Allen’s mobility is also something to watch. “I think they have an offense to where, man, they are distributing the ball to a number of different people, and I know they’re going to get some people back this week who are a huge part of their offense, so that’s going to be something we have to be ready for, also,’’ Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said. “But, man, this quarterback, he’s an MVP-caliber guy, there’s no doubt about that, and we know that. But we’re going to go out there and do everything we can to stop what he’s trying to do. It’s going to be a tough challenge and we know it.”

FOUR: Quarterback Jared Goff has kept the offense running smoothly so far and needs to keep going against the Billls. Goff and Ben Johnson work closely each week to help develop the game plan. “The things that he’s most comfortable with usually work on game days, so we want to give him a lot of liberty early in the week, ‘Hey, I think we can get a post if we do this or that.’ And we’ll try to find a way to make that an alert for him if we can call it against the right coverage,’’ Johnson said. “So, it’s just, call it an hour every day over the course of the week. We’ve got a good process right now from Monday to Sunday that we just keep pressing the reset button every week. We can’t get tired of it. But he’s doing a great job of that.”

FIVE: Lions must continue success on third downs.They’re ranked fourth best in the NFL while the Bills third down defense is near the bottom at 25th. In the win over the Packers, Detroit was four of five on fourth downs, they may be just as aggressive on Sunday while waiting for some key defensemen to heal up and get back in the game.

LIONS INJURY UPDATE: LB Trevor Nowaske (concussion) is out. All others, who are not on injured reserve, are cleared.

BILLS INJURY UPDATE:CB Rasul Douglas is out. OL Tylan Grable, S Damar Hamlin, TE Dalton Kincaid, TE Quintin MOrris, S Taylor Rapp, DE Dawuane Smoot, LB Baylon Spector and DE Casey Toohill are questionable.

PREDICTION: Lions 35, Bills 31

Injury-depleted Lions find a way to beat the Packers, 34-31

Five reasons Detroit pulled out the big division win

DETROIT — All grit, no excuses.

The Detroit Lions are the team that always seems to find a way to win. They did it again on Thursday night, defeating the Green Bay Packers, 34-31, with a game-winning field goal by Jake Bates.

But make no mistake it was a total team effort. The Lions are now 12-1 and have won 11 straight and are 4-0 in the NFC North.

With the win, they clinched a playoff berth which coach Dan Campbell wasn’t aware of until after his post-game talk with the team.

“I love the fact that we just find a way. The narrative going in, we weren’t buying any of this stuff about where we were at, no excuses,’’ Campbell said. “Our guys knew where we were at, they don’t need to talk about being tough, they don’t need to talk about being resilient, we live it. It’s what we are. We just proved it again.’’

The Packers fell to 9-4 and are in third place in the division behind the Lions and the Vikings (10-2). It was the Lions’ second win over Green Bay – they beat them 24-14 on Nov. 3.

“I told the team this will be one you’ll never forget,’’ Campbell said.

Not many will.

Five of the reasons the Lions won:

ONE: Campbell knew going in that the offense was going to have to carry the load. So it wasn’t really a surprise that they went 4-of-5 on fourth down plays, including two touchdown passes on fourth and short. “Look, the guys knew, the players knew, the coaches knew, don’t ride the wave we can be up two scores, we can be down two scores but just because we’re one or the other we have to play our style of game. That meant the risk was there,’’ Campbell said.

TWO: Despite having 13 defensive players on injured reserve, coordinator Aaron Glenn put together an effective game plan even with players who were acquired on the weekend. “We wanted the defense to let it loose, just go play. Effort, finish. Man, they did that. God, they did that,’’ Campbell said. “Helluva job by AG, those guys just laid it on the line. We call them the Northern Savages.’’

THREE: Wide receiver Tim Patrick has played well all season but until Thursday he had not caught a touchdown. And, in the win, he caught two of them. “What a great addition he’s been. He just continues to make plays for us in the run game and the pass game, stepped up big here,’’ Campbell said.

FOUR: Jared Goff was steady even after throwing an interception that led to a Packers’ touchdown three plays later. Going for it on fourth down? He loved it that the coach showed his faith in the offense. “Bigger than anything, that’s all you want from a head coach is to believe in you,’’ Goff said.

FIVE: Running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs once again provided the foundation for the offense. Montgomery carried 14 times for 51 yards including a touchdown and also caught five passes for 33 yards. Gibbs carried 15 times for 43 yards and caught six passes for 30 yards including a touchdown. Gibbs surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for the first time in his career.

UP NEXT: The Buffalo Bills (10-2) at the Lions (12-1), 4:25 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15.

Banged-up Lions face division rival Packers; injury updates and prediction

Five things to watch as Packers visit Ford Field

Lions coach Dan Campbell is amped up every week, but perhaps more so as the Lions face the Packers in a huge divisional contest on Thursday night at Ford Field.

“They have players everywhere and they’re playing good football. So, this is going to be a great matchup,’’ Campbell said. “Back at our place, it’s just another one of those, division game number four, get it back at home against a really good opponent and it’s – there again, this is why you do it. This is why you coach, it’s why you play, so, we’re fired up for this.”

The Lions, who have won all three of their division contests, won the first meeting against the Pack, 24-14, at Lambeau Field on Nov. 3. Since then the Lions are 4-0 while the Packers are 3-0.

“There will be enough carryover, I’m sure for them as well as us. Things that they did well against us, things that we did well, and then you just kind of play off of that,’’ Campbell said. “And there will be wrinkles on both sides. The weather affected a couple of things, but I think all in all, the blueprint’s there for either team, however you want to look at it. So, I don’t see anything being too significant and we get wrinkles every week. We always get something that’s tendency breakers now. So, we pretty much expect that.”

Five things to watch:

ONE: The Lions’ defense must contain Packers RB Josh Jacobs who is having a good season. “Big, powerful, hard to tackle, run after contact, and I said this the first time that we played them, is when you have a running back of that nature, it changes the mindset of the O-line. So now the O-line knows that we have this physical runner, so now that turns into a more physical offensive line and all they have to do is show him, give him a little crease, and they know that he’s going to make three yards out of nothing,’’ Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said. “Most of those three yards end up getting to be six and seven yards and he’s going to break a tackle. So, I think he fits that scheme perfectly and he’s doing a hell of a job as far as complementing the whole offense which allows now the vertical passing game to show up.”

TWO: Quarterback Jordan Love had a fairly good game in the first meeting of the two, with 273 passing yards and one interception. But when it came to the red zone, the Lions defense held and Green Bay was just one-of-four inside the 20. Since the Packers started leaning more on the run, Love has improved. He threw 11 interceptions in the first eight games but has gone two games without a pick and with a total of four TD passes.

THREE: Against the Bears on Thanksgiving, Detroit’s run game was so effective Chicago barely had the ball on offense. With a depleted defense due to injury, a similar start would be effective. No reason that can’t happen with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs both healthy. They combined for 138 rushing yards in Green Bay on Nov. 3.

FOUR: Especially with the absence of Alex Anzalone, linebacker Jack Campbell has stepped up. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said he’s their rock. “He’s a man’s man, he loves standing in front of the huddle to give the call to those guys and they really really respect him,’’ Glenn said. “They respect him because of who he is personally, but they respect the way he plays the game, it’s a hundred mph all the time.’’ Campbell amassed 10 tackles in the first meeting with Green Bay.

FIVE: The Lions need Jared Goff to have another big game. While it’s just been a month since they faced each other, both teams have changed a bit and both are still winning. The Packers have won three straight. “They’re playing well and we’ve got our hands full. It’s a good defense, they’re well-coached, they do a lot of really good things, the backend’s good, the linebackers are good, the front four is good, they’re good on every level and we know what we’ve got to take care of,’’ said Goff who as 18 of 22 for 145 yards and a touchdown in their first meeting.

LIONS INJURY UPDATE: LT Taylor Decker (knee), DL Levi Onwuzurike (hamstring), DL Josh Paschal (knee) and DL D.J. Reader (shoulder) are out.

PACKERS INJURY UPDATE: CB Jaire Alexander (knee), WR Romeo Doubs (concussion), LB Edgerrin Cooper (hamstring) and DB Corey Ballentine (knee) are out.

PREDICTION: Lions 27, Packers 24