The Lions hit the road yet again on Sunday, this time to face the Indianapolis Colts. While the comforts of Ford Field are welcome, the Lions (9-1) are perfect on the road this season.
“I think our guys do a good job of honing in on the game in front of you and I do think there’s – I think we like being on the road too. We love home, you get your home crowd, and believe me, we’re all about that,’’ coach Dan Campbell said.
“But there’s also something about the challenge of going on the road and it’s just you. It’s just us and when you do something good, you don’t hear anything until our fans start going. But that’s kind of what you’re shooting for. ‘Man, let’s go make a play that shuts this whole place down and gets it quiet in here.’ So, I just think there’s a little bit of a mindset about it. We appreciate that and we like the challenge of it,’’ the coach added.
It does help that Lions fans travel well too but the players certainly have the right mindset to succeed on the road.
“I would say most of our guys – when you get in these tight moments, two things happen. You either crack or you want it, you want every bit of it. You want the ball in your hand, you want to be, ‘Run this ball behind me, I’m a D-tackle, try to run it at me. I’m the corner, I got one-on-one, I hope you throw it out here my way.’ And I think we – that’s our guys,’’ Campbell said. “We embrace that.”
The Colts, who have lost three of their last four, are coming off a 28-27 win over the Jets while the Lions have won eight straight and have won three games by 35 or more points this year, establishing a new team record.
Five things to watch:
ONE: The Lions defense has been forced to make adjustments without key players most of the season. Now Alex Anzalone is out with a broken forearm. Look for Jack Campbell to step in and call the plays. While Malcolm Rodriguez will play a key role. “It’s good to get Rodrigo back because he does, he gives us a lot of flexibility. He can play the WILL, he can play the SAM out in space, he’s been playing kind of that big nickel, and so having him back it does, it relieves a lot of pressure there,’’ Campbell said. “… He’s got a nose for the football, he’s aggressive and he just, he has production back there so it’s big getting him back.”
TWO: Colts QB Anthony Richardson, who has thrown seven interceptions, only one in his last four starts. He’s had issues this season but had a good game in the win over the Jets last week. “They’ve really opened up Richardson, so he’s got the ability to throw it downfield, he’s strong, he’s big, he can run, and these receivers are dangerous and, obviously, the back (Jonathan Taylor),’’ Campbell said. The Colts passing offense ranked 21st with just 202.2 yards per game (compared to 242.5 for Lions). Richardson will be up against the Lions safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph, a tough task for any QB.
THREE: Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, along with running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs, have all scored at least 9 touchdowns this season. It’s the second time in NFL history that a trio of teammates have all produced nine scrimmage TDs through the first 10 games of a season. Also, they shattered another record with the most games with a TD scored by a trio in NFL history. These Lions have gone eight games while several teams have seven games.
FOUR: Jared Goff. What can you say? He bounced back from a strange game in Houston with a perfect passer rating in blasting the Jaguars. Goff has shown more movement in the pocket which is something he’s always working on. “I think when you get a lot of clean pockets, it makes it easier when there is a little bit of mess to avoid that because it’s so obviously different,’’ Goff said. “Our O-line is so dang good and I’m back there pretty scot-free a lot of times so that when a guy does get through, I can tell the difference on that and I’m able to react to it, as opposed to – when you look around the League, some of these guys are having to move on almost every drop back and that becomes hard.”
FIVE: Za’Darius Smith expects to see more reps at the Colts after playing in his first game with the Lions last Sunday. The NFL veteran is known for his violent hands — DC Aaron Glenn calls them his superpower. He’s also been sharing his years of wisdom with his younger teammates.
“You saw it last – what, the week that he didn’t play with (Josh) Paschal, he was in there coaching him. And he does that on an everyday basis, so when you have a guy of that magnitude that’s willing to take what he has and give it to somebody else, it’s always a good thing, and he wants to do that anyway,’’ Glenn said.
LIONS INJURY UPDATE: CB Ennis Rakestraw (hamstring) is out; CB Terrion Arnold (groin) and CB Emmanuel Moseley (pectoral) are questionable.
COLTS INJURY UPDATE: T Bernhard Raimann (knee) is out; DE Tyquan Lewis (elbow) is questionable.
PREDICTION: Lions 42, Colts 17
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