Tag: J.J. McCarthy

Five things to watch as Lions face Vikings in Christmas Day matchup; plus injury updates

Dan Campbell’s most memorable Christmas kids when he was younger was underwear – tidy  whities – from his dad.

A win over the Vikings on Christmas Day is at the top of his wish list this year.

The LIons (8-7) are coming off two straight losses and still have a very slim chance of making the playoffs while the Vikings (7-8) have won three straight and are out of the postseason discussion.

His message to the team on this shortened week is to move forward.

Wide receiver Jameson Williams paints a picture of the locker room,

“Nobody is disappointed I don’t know – everybody’s head is high, we’ve still got a chance. Nobody is in there with a sad face, everybody is happy we get a chance to go to work and do something that we love doing,’’ Williams said. 

“It’s not all about the bigger picture that everybody else makes it about. Some people play this game because they love the game. It’s not about the money or pleasing fans or pleasing anybody. As I’ve been looking around and analyzing everybody’s head has been high. We still feel like we got a shot at this,’’ he added.

Five things to watch:

ONE: Run the damn ball. In the first meeting the Lions managed just 65 rushing yards (3.3 yards per carry). It’s one reason they lost. They have lost all  six games when they have rushed for less than 100 yards. It happened again on Sunday in the loss to the Steelers. It’s not on Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery – all 11 players on offense are responsible. “Everybody’s got to be on par. One time it’s one player here, whether it’s in the O-line or at another spot, it’s not just there. The backs are involved, receivers, tight ends. So, we just kind of took turns with – whether it was some of the combinations or we’re not honoring the ID, or maybe it’s not the right read,’’ Campbell said referring to the loss to the Steelers.

TWO: Stop the run. The Lions defense has had a miserable time stopping the run. In five of the last six games they’ve allowed more than 100 rushing yards and they lost four of those five. “As you guys know, the rush and coverage always go together. And we have not worked in unison for a number of plays. We’ve gotten hit on a number of plays,’’ Campbell said. “Some of that is – we play a certain style, right? And then if you feel like you’re not executing there, then you try to give some help in areas. Well, I kind of mentioned this last week, when you do that, then you expose yourself and others. And that happened a little bit (Sunday), we tried to play with a lighter box, and then we got hit in the run game. Some of them we missed some tackles that showed up. Where we fit, who the support player is, that showed. It’s obviously – it’s too much, man, it’s not sustainable.’’

THREE: Quarterback J.J. McCarthy has been ruled out with a hairline fracture in his hand. Max Brosmer, who has played in five games with one start this season, will get the nod. He’s completed 66 percent of his passes with 0 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. “If you give him time to see it he can throw it, he’s got receivers to throw to. I know that,’’ Campbell said. “The guy is accurate and so I think it really falls in line with anybody we play at this point. We have to disrupt him and we can’t let the run game get going. They’re going to lean on him, they’re going to use the run game because it will alleviate a ton of pressure and if we let them open the flood gates it’s going to be a long day for us.

FOUR: In the previous game the Vikings sacked Goff five times. Obviously adjustments have to be made. “We know in totality we have to be better, that’s us as coaches, we have to execute better. I go back to the game where we made so many mistakes all over the map, we’ve got to eliminate the errors,’’ Campbell said “Our backs are going to have to protect, they know that  so is the O-line and so are the tight ends at times, chip and nudge. Sometimes you have to beat the rush with your receivers. And Goff has to roll. It takes everybody.’’

FIVE: Goff rarely has a bad outing. He needs another strong showing. “There’s going to be a ton put on Goff. He’s going to have a lot on his plate. He always has a lot on his plate. Nothing’s new there,’’ Campbell said. “But these guys present a lot of problems, a lot of challenges, it starts there. We have to play fast, we’ve got to play fast, we have to make sure we communicate – everybody is doing the same things.’’

LIONS INJURIES: OUT – Avonte Maddox and Giovanni Manu; QUESTIONABLE — Amon-Ra St. Brown, Taylor Decker, David Montgomery, Trystan Colon, Marcus Davenport, Khalil Dorsey, Tom Kennedy, Christian Mahogany, Alim McNeill, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Amik Robertson

VIKINGS INJURIES: OUT — J.J. McCarthy, T.J. Hockenson, Ryan Kelly and Jordan Mason.

PREDICTION: Lions 27, Vikings 24.

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 things to watch as Lions face the Vikings; plus injury update, prediction

Fresh off the bye week, the Lions enter a crucial stretch of the season, starting with the division-rival Vikings on Sunday at Ford Field.

The Lions (5-2) hold second place in the NFC North behind the Packers (5-1-1) and ahead of the Bears (4-3) and Minnesota ((3-4). The Vikings have lost two straight and three of the last four with Carson Wentz at quarterback.

Coach Dan Campbell talked to the team this week about where everything is stacking up in the NFC.

“It’s very competitive, especially at this point in the season for one conference. But all I stated was, ‘Hey, this is where we’re at, this is where these teams are at, and this thing’s about to shake out within the month of November.’ … You’re going to start seeing some risers and fallers, and a lot of these teams are playing each other,’’ Campbell said. .”We’re one of them. So, it really is just handle your business, man. And the bottom line is, find a way to win your division. And we’ve got Minnesota coming in here, that’s No. 1. And then you worry about the next one after that.”

Campbell said external expectations are what they are.

“It’s not about expectations, it’s about our standards,’’ the coach said. “The standards are the standards, and it’s about us playing to those standards, and that’s the most important thing.”

Five things to watch:

ONE: J.J. McCarthy is expected to start for the Vikings on Sunday. The second-year quarterback has just two games of NFL experience but Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said regardless of time on task he’s a threat. Sheppard referred to the Vikings’ Week 1 27-24 win over the Bears when McCarthy threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran 14 yards for a score all in the fourth quarter for the comeback win. “Ultra competitor, a player like that doesn’t get drafted where he was drafted without a reason and I see the reason,’’ Sheppard said. “You turn on the Week 1 game and they were getting stymied in the first half, they came out in the second half and in a way he put that team on his back, he put that offense on his back and you saw how the guys galvanized around him. So that told me something about him.’’

TWO: While the secondary backups – the Legion of Whom – excelled in the win over the Bucs before the bye week, the secondary will look more familiar on Sunday with Brian Branch and possibly Terrion Arnold, Avonte Maddox and Daniel Thomas returning. Still Sheppard loved what he saw from the others. “I mean the names go on and on of the guys that went out and not only just played, not only held the line, but they’ve put some pressure on some of our starters now,’’ Sheppard said. “Like these guys came in and we probably played the best defensive game that we’ve played this year with a bunch of you call it ‘no name,’ whatever. I know these guys’ names, and I know who they are as people and I’m just glad that everybody else does now.”

THREE: During the bye week, the coaches looked at third-down percentage and how to improve it. The Lions rank 22nd in the NFL converting 37.7 percent of third downs. It’s not just third-and-long that is the issue. “I feel like there’s a lot of things we’ve actually missed on third-and-manageable. The mid-range third downs. So we’re where we want to be to have a shot at converting, it’s just we’ve got to get it done,’’ Campbell said. “And that really is collective, it’s all of us. There’s things that we can do to really help our guys and then it falls on them too. So, it’s collective, it’s the whole unit. And I know we talked about that and so look, we’re just going to keep tweaking it, we’re going to keep working on it and hopefully we get better this week.’’

FOUR: Defensively, the red zone play has been ranked in the bottom third of the league. “Statistically I kind of looked at some areas that I believe we should be better and will be better starting with the red zone. When you allow teams down there it’s huge that you limit points in those situations – the 4-point plays,’’ Sheppard said. “As far as when teams are in 7-point striking distance and you only give up a FG. We’ve definitely got to tick up there.  Also third-and-11 plus we’re in the bottom 5 of the league.’’

FIVE: Jared Goff has faced Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores enough to know him but that doesn’t make it easier on the quarterback who said he sees some changes from last year. 

“Well coached, fast, fly around, good hard-nosed players who play hard for him. It’s a good group,’’ Goff said. “… They want to penetrate, they want to get in the backfield, they want to get typically five or six guys rushing, one-on-ones on everybody. In that case, they run some pick games, they run some stunts, they do a little bit of everything. And they want to disrupt your timing and get in the backfield and it’s up to us up front and me to get the ball out and do everything right.”

LIONS INJURIES: Out —  CB Kerby Joseph, RB Craig Reynolds, LB Malcolm Rodriguez; Questionable — LT Taylor Decker, CB Avonte Maddox, RB Sione Vaki and S Daniel Thomas.

VIKINGS INJURIES: Out — FB C.J. Hand, TE Josh Oliver, CB Jeff Okuday; Questionable _ LT Christian Darrisaw, RT Brian O’Neill, EDGE Andrew van Ginkel and DB Josh Metellus.

PREDICTION: Lions 35, Vikings 21

UP NEXT: Lions at Washington Commanders, 4:25 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 16.