Tag: Jahmyr Gibbs

Five things to watch as Lions face the Commanders; plus injury updates, prediction

Coach Dan Campbell wants to see his Lions play their brand of football for 60 minutes when they hit the road to face the Washington Commanders on Sunday.

The Lions (5-3) are coming off a loss to the Vikings while the Commanders (3-6) have lost four straight and five of their last six. The Lions have not lost back-to-back games since October 2022. The Vikings will be playing without starting quarterback Jayden Daniels.

“I want to see the urgency, the intensity, I want to see the focus, I want to see the finish on the football – offense, defense,’’ Campbell said. “I want to see our playmakers making plays within the scheme, within the system. I want to see our coaches coaching at a high level. I want us playing, coaching on a championship level.

“And more importantly, I want to play a hell of a lot better than we did last week. We need to amp this thing up and clean this up. Let’s play disciplined football for 60 minutes. Doesn’t have to be perfect, not looking for perfect. I just – let’s clean some of this stuff up,’’ the coach added.

The offense was sluggish in the loss but still ranks second in the league in scoring and 11th in total offense,

“A few weeks ago we were the greatest thing since sliced bread, and now we are a horrible offense apparently. It comes and goes. We try to get better, and we try to fix it, certainly there are things to fix in this game,’’ quarterback Jared Goff said. “I can go back a few weeks where there’s been things we need to get better at. Yeah, it’s not missing us. We know that, we’re not naïve to it, and planning to get things fixed.”

Five things to watch:

ONE: The Lions are ranked second in the NFL in scoring and yet they’re 25th in third-down offense which succeeds just 36.3 percent of time. Third down has been an area of focus. “It’s bizarre that’s the way it is. I don’t know why that is. Those numbers are so different,’’ Goff said. “And to fix the third down issues, I know I’ve said it a gazillion times now, but it’s just executing better. I know that’s not the answer that you guys want to hear, anyone wants to hear, but it’s really the truth. Knowing what our problems are, knowing our answers, our solutions, running good routes, protecting well, and then me being accurate with the ball. And I certainly have my hand in that and putting the ball where it needs to be at the right time and getting rid of it.”

TWO: Protection at the line of scrimmage was a major issue in the loss to the Vikings. Nothing works right when the protection isn’t there consistently. “It’s just that we’re protecting, getting the blitz and everything and all of the sudden, the back, maybe he did this wrong. Or the tackle did this wrong, or the receiver didn’t run the right route. That’s what’s going on,’’ offensive coordinator John Morton said. “It’s just doing it all together, 11 guys at the same time. I mean that’s where we have to get to because we’re not far away. I mean the score was still kind of close. That’s the biggest thing, just honing in on the details, refocus, OK do what you’re supposed to do. That’s the biggest thing. And we’ve got to fix this up front and protecting the quarterback. And we will and we’ve addressed it and we’re working on it. We have to do it because if you don’t address it, they’re just going to keep doing what teams are going to – what we’ve seen on tape. So, that’s the important thing, make the corrections and go on and make sure it doesn’t happen again. If it does, then you’ve got to make some changes.”

THREE: The run game is critical to the offensive success and last week it stumbled. The Vikings defense had something to do with that, but again it was protection related. It’s not an issue with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, as much as with the entire offense. “The most important thing is that you don’t over react. From ownership on down, we have a bunch of truth tellers in this building and there’s no mistaking why this play broke down or this play broke down,’’ said David Shaw, passing game coordinator. “The key is not to over-react, the key is to take a look at it, we’re inefficient, we’re not playing our best football and we’re a half-game out of first place in our division.’’

FOUR: The offensive line, which has struggled at times so far, will be without Christian Mahogany at left guard, possibly until late December. Look for Kayode Awosika to step in. Last  year he played in 11 games and started two. This year he’s seen minimal time in all eight games. The line got pushed around last week, look for fixes. Morton said his biggest concern about the offense is the protection and much (not all) of that falls on the line. “I can draw up all of these plays we wanted. If you don’t protect and have sound protection so the quarterback can throw the ball, it doesn’t matter,’’ Morton said. “So, that’s the biggest thing. And listen, this is fixable, that’s the beauty of it. This is all fixable and we’ve addressed it.”

FIVE: The 10 penalties called against the Lions in the loss to Minnesota were a season high and contributed to the loss. “I think the biggest deal was that it was very hurtful watching the Lions beat the Lions — penalties, things that showed up in the rougher parts of the game,’’ said Scottie Montgomery, assistant head coach/wide receivers. “… The portion that you really have to look at getting cleaned up as soon as possible is the small details that did not show up in practice — a penalty here, a penalty there. Correctively that’s not on the players, that’s not on the coaches, that’s on the collective whole of what we’re doing. We have to be better there.’’

PREDICTION: Lions 35, Commanders 21

LIONS INJURIES: OUT — S Kerby Joseph, DL Pat O’Connor, RB Jacob Saylors, OL Miles Frazier and EDGE Josh Paschal; QUESTIONABLE — LT Taylor Decker, RB Craig Reynolds, LB Malcolm Rodriguez, T Dan Skipper, LB Grant Stuard and S Daniel Thomas.

COMMANDERS INJURIES: OUT — QB Jayden Daniels; QUESTIONABLE — DT Eddie Goldman, S Quan Martin and S Tyler Owens.

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.

Detroit Lions’ defense comes up huge in 24-9 win over Tampa Bay Bucs

DETROIT — “Next man up” is not an empty phrase for Lions coach Dan Campbell. He’s serious and his defense proved him right in a 24-9 win over Tampa Bay on Monday night at Ford Field.

Missing key starters in the secondary, Detroit’s defense, including the pieced-together secondary, stifled Bucs’ quarterback Baker Mayfield. The Bucs (5-2) averaged 27.5 points per game and the Lions held them to just nine.

“I knew we were going to challenge more, do more than what we did last week. I did feel good about that,’’ Campbell said. “That’s a good quarterback over there, we knew (WR Mike) Evans was coming back.’’

The coach had confidence in his guys but didn’t think they could hold the Bucs’e offensive output so well.

Tampa Bay had no answer for running back Jahmyr Gibbs who had 218 scrimmage yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns.

The Lions’ resiliency showed again. Coming off a disappointing loss at Kansas City, Detroit was not going to lose two in a row. And they didn’t. The Lions (5-2) haven’t lost back-to-back games in three years.

“Listen, we’ve got a special group of coaches and players, they’re competitive, they want to win, they’re able to really focus on what needs to be fixed,’’ Campbell said. “What cost us the loss the week before and simply keep in that compartment. Don’t make more of it then needs be, don’t lose confidence, just fix it.’’

And they did.

Five of the reasons the Lions won:

ONE: Jahmyr Gibbs made the most of every touch and he had plenty. Gibbs scored two rushing touchdowns, carried 17 times for 136 yards and caught three passes for 82 yards. “You felt like this has been building. As he gets in better shape, and starts getting his feet under him, starts getting the feel of it, starts breaking some tackles,’’ Campbell said. “Every week it’s gotten closer and closer, tonight was the night he busted one out of there, there will be no looking back.’’Gibbs became the 10th player in NFL history to produce a game with at least 135 rushing yards, 80 receiving yards and two rushing TDs. The last player to do so was Chris Johnson in 2009. Gibbs reached those totals with 4:39 left in the third quarter. Let that soak in. And he is the 8th NFL player since at least 1960 to produce 100-plus rushing yards, a rushing TD and 50-plus receiving yards in the first half of a game.

TWO: Alim McNeill is back. Man, is he back. The defensive tackle, who had not played for 10 months after knee surgery, makes everyone around him better and it was evident from the get-go. He tipped a Baker Mayfield pass at the line of scrimmage on a key third-and-3 play early in the second quarter, forcing a punt. “You could feel his presence early,’’ said Campbell, noting that he’s not yet in great football shape.

THREE: The Lions’ secondary was missing most of its starters but the others stepped up big time. It was almost like they got tired of hearing about the “depleted” secondary and decided to make a statement. “That’s what’s expected here,’’ Campbell said. “I’ve said before you get in there you don’t have to be perfect, you challenge and you compete and we will help you, the guys around will help you and we’ll play with three units. I love the fact that the game didn’t feel too big for some of those guys.’’ Rock Ya-Sin started at corner and had two pass defenses and four tackles. CB Arthur Maulet intercepted Mayfield late in the second on a play that was called on a review. It was Maulet’s second appearance in a game for the Lions. Veteran Amik Robertson’s stellar play with a forced fumble and pass defended was no surprise. CB NIck Whiteside had three passes defended including two on back-to-back pass attempts in the end zone. 

FOUR: It was not Jared Goff’s best game but he came through when needed and he had plenty of help from Gibbs and the Lions defense. “Offensively there’s certainly things we know can be done better and we’ll need to do better, but at the end of the day when we needed points we found points,’’ Campbell said. Still, Goff completed 20 of 29 passes for 241 yards, one touchdown (to Amon-Ra St. Brown) and one interception.

FIVE:  Tampa Bay’s defense was not stout enough. They came in with the NFL’s fifth best rushing defense allowing just 88.2 rushing yards per game. The Lions rushed for nearly double that – 164. They could not stop Detroit’s run. In fact, they just couldn’t put up much of a fight. 

UP NEXT: It’s the Lions bye week. Next game on Sunday, Nov, 2 at Ford Field against the Minnesota Vikings.