Tag: jared goff

Five things to watch as the Lions face the Jaguars, look to extend win streak

The Detroit LIons continue to demolish the franchise record books with their 8-1 start to the season. A win over the lowly Jaguars (2-8) on Sunday would give them the best start to the season since 1934 and their eighth straight win.

With the talent and expectations, nothing about the season so far is surprising. Key injuries haven’t stopped them – the only flaw was a bad game against the Tampa Bay Bucs.

Coach Dan Campbell said the team’s love for one another plays into the success.

“It’s a huge part of it because it’s – there’s so much that goes into it. There’s an unselfishness in a selfish business. It’s hard, and I’m talking about not just players, I’m talking about coaches too,’’ Campbell said. “That’s the nature of this game, man. This is type-A personalities and very confident, especially if you’re competing at the highest level.

“But to be able to put your ego aside for the guy next to you and you say you care about him, will you care about him enough to do everything it takes to get on the field and do your job and produce, and it should break your heart when you don’t finish for a player next to you, you don’t finish a block or you don’t chase the ball down and it turned into something bigger than it needed to be or you’re not in the gap you’re supposed to be in. Those should drive you and motivate you not to let the guy next to you – and that’s the common thread in all great teams, man. That’s how they function, that’s how they work, it’s how they practice, and they hold each other accountable,’’ Campbell added.

Five things to watch against the Jaguars:

ONE: Jared Goff is fully expected to bounce back to his old self after throwing five interceptions in the win at the Texans. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has gotten to know Goff well and said he handled the game at Houston as well as he could. “I mean, on the sideline, we’re talking through what he’s seeing and he’s seeing it all great and as much as I can, I’m trying to reassure him, it’s on me as much as anything else because what we saw on tape and what we said was going to happen didn’t quite turn out the way that we wanted,’’ Johnson said. “So, just telling him that I’m as responsible as he is for those interceptions and he certainly showed up there, like I said, in the fourth quarter, he came out and was still firing that ball. A lot of guys would clam up and be afraid to make a mistake and he did not do that.”

TWO: Za’Darius Smith gets first action with the Lions after the trade 10 days ago. While he was inactive at Houston, he was on the sidelines helping to coach the defensive line. Left tackle Taylor Decker has faced Smith through the years. “ Incredibly violent hands, powerful guy, I think one thing he’s able to line up all across the field,’’ Decker said. ‘You’ve seen him over center, over guards and and then tons of times you’ll see him one-on-one with offensive tackles. He’s got some of that swagger, that confidence.’’

THREE: Quarterback Trevor Lawrence will sit out with an injured non-throwing shoulder. The Jags have a bye week coming up so it will add to his rest time. Mac Jones will get his second straight start. In the 12-7 loss to the Vikings last week, Jones was 14 of 22 for 111 yards, zero interceptions and a pair of interceptions.

FOUR: The Jaguars defense has struggled, giving up 261.2 passing yards and 129.4 rushing yards per game makes them the NFL’s worst defense. Five Jags are tied with one interception each while the Lions have a total of 13 — Kerby Joseph with 6 and Brian Branch with 4. Sounds like a good time for Joseph and Branch to step up again.

FIVE: Jameson Williams, after a two-game suspension, was thrown back into the fire. He had two key third-down catches including one where he was sandwiched between two defenders.  “He’s really coming on and showing up,’’ Johnson said. “ When you challenge him on the sidelines, he typically responds in a positive way and we knew, particularly with the turnovers, our margin for error had gone down, so he needed to make that play for us at that time and he did. But the level of confidence in him and his hands and his detail continues to rise.”

LIONS INJURY REPORT: TE Sam LaPorta (shoulder), DT Bodric Martin (knee). S Ifeatu Melifonwu (ankle/finger) and CB Emmanuel Moseley (pectoral) are out; LB Ben Niemann (ankle) is questionable.

JAGUARS INJURY REPORT: QB Trevor Lawrence and RB Tank Bigsby are out; OL Ezra Cleveland, DT Maason Smith and RB Keilan Robinson are questionable.

PREDICTION: Lions 42, Jaguars 6

Lions look for more offensive efficiency in 2nd half of season

Dan Campbell, Jared Goff agree it’s an area of focus

ALLEN PARK — Walking off the field after the comeback win in Houston on Sunday, quarterback Jared Goff had a few words for coach Dan Campbell: “We’re just different.”

Campbell  agrees. The Lions are 8-1, own the best record in the NFC and show no signs of impending disaster despite a slew of injuries on defense. It’s a good place to be in, they know it and they’re fighting to maintain the same level of play.

“Every team is different, my notion is that the adversity we’re built for is different than every other team in the league,’’ Goff said on Wednesday. “I think I said it after the game, it truly is. There are a lot of good teams in our league but it would be hard-pressed to find some who have been through what the core group of this team has been through.’’

The 1-6 start of the 2022 season comes to mind.

Any game like that (in Houston) where you dig yourself in that big of a hole, knowing we’re built for that and built to come back in those instances,’’ Goff said.

What is the word for that type of resiliency? Oh yes, grit.

That does not mean there isn’t work to do.

Campbell said that offensive efficiency is one area of growth he’d like to see in the second half of the season. He’s seen efficiency in spurts but not consistent enough.

“ I’m not even talking about where you’re scoring touchdowns every time. You just want to get out there knowing you’re converting first down, first down, first down. Does that lead to a field goal or did you have to punt, but at least you’re moving the football because that gets us in a rhythm,’’ Campbell said on Wednesday.

He said some of that is the fundamentals.

“Don’t try to do too much early, let the game come to you and if we convert the next first down that gives us another three or four plays, convert the next one, get another three or four opportunities,’’ Campbell said. “Pretty soon we gain our momentum and we’re really good about that. I think that, in general, just getting our flow back a little bit. It’s not something I’m concerned with, but I feel it’s an area that I feel like we can improve and will improve.’’

Goff agrees with his coach. He had his worst game of the season throwing five interceptions in the win at Houston.

The last three games, the Lions have won beating the Titans 52-24, the Packers 24-14 and the Texans 26-23.

“I think the Tennessee game was somewhat of an outlier, when we weren’t in the red zone we weren’t really moving the ball down the field. Green Bay conditions and whatnot and we weren’t able to be as explosive as we wanted to and obviously last week (at Houston) wasn’t as explosive as we wanted,’’ Goff said. “He’s absolutely right. It starts this week for us.’’

It’s a good week to get the offense on a roll, playing Jacksonville (2-8) on Sunday at Ford Field. The Jaguars own the NFL’s worst total defense allowing 390 yards per game — 129 rushing and 261 passing.

Five reasons the Lions roared back in second half to top the Texans, 26-23

Lions kicker Jake Bates answered the bell and kicked two 50-yard plus field goals in the fourth quarter on Sunday night, including the 52-yard game winner.

With his leg, Bates led the Lions to a 26-23 win over the Texans in Houston. The Lions won their seventh straight game and improved to 8-1 while the Texans fell to 6-4.

The Lions were down 23-7 at the half and it wasn’t looking good from the outside. Inside the locker room they made adjustments at halftime, came out and played a gritty second half. It worked.

“Every team gets punched in the mouth and the good ones respond. We responded,’’ said quarterback Jared Goff who threw five interceptions and a pair of touchdowns.

Houston was coming off a loss to the Jets and was fired up in front of their home crowd which included many Detroit fans.

“We had to fight our way back in there. I’m proud of the guys. There are things that obviously we have to clean up, but our guys wouldn’t go away. For our defense to play the way they played, I thought our defense played good early, we just had one play here or one play there that hurt us,’’ Campbell said.

“Second half you come out it’s four punts, two picks and a missed field goal. That’s huge. We talked about it at halftime, we needed to get our takeaways. I knew we’d wake up on offense, it was just a matter of time,’’ the coach added. “Once we were able to pull within one score you felt now we’re starting to find our way.”

Campbell said after nine games he feels really good about his team. “They haven’t done anything that would surprise me negatively,’’ Campbell said.

Five main reasons why the Lions won:

ONE: Jake Bates, a hometown Houston kid, got a well-deserved game ball. Both of his long field goals were good by inches. Hey, they all count the same. Campbell was confident in Bates in part because at the end of practice Thursday they went through an end-of-game drill and Bates hit that field goal outdoors in the wind. “I felt he was going to make it,’’ Campbell said.

TWO: Jared Goff proved once again he has ice flowing through his veins. Despite the five interceptions (he had four in the first eight games), the quarterback hung in there. Credit the Texans’ defense for pressure on Goff. He led the Lions to score 19 unanswered points in the second half. “I honestly didn’t feel like I was playing all that bad, I was seeing things well, I was throwing it well. I had some unfortunate things happen early,’’ Goff said. “I’ve been through a whole lot worse than that. I’ve been to the bottom mentally, some unlucky plays aren’t going to throw me off my game.’’

THREE: It was a sloppy game for both sides. The Lions had five giveaways and just two takeaways. A minus-3 ratio in turnovers doesn’t often lead to wins in the NFL. Carlton Davis III had both of the Lions interceptions, his first career two-interception game. 

FOUR: While WR Amon-Ra St. Brown was double-covered most of the game, he had six catches for 60 yards and a touchdown. The biggest reception was on third-and-6 on the last possession when he caught a 11-yarder for the first down. Three plays later Bates kicked the game-winner. 

FIVE: It was a total team defense. Campbell said he challenged the defensive line during the week to step up and help the secondary which has been playing solid football. They held the quarterback C.J. Stroud and the Texans scoreless in the second half, after allowing 23 points in the first half. Detroit’s defense had seven tackles for loss including two sacks in the first half so they weren’t playing horribly to start, just a few big plays including a 41-yard pass interference penalty hurt them. Alim McNeill, Josh Paschal and Pat O’Connor each sacked C.J. Stroud. Safety Brian Branch finished with two pass defenses, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit and a team-high 10 tackles.

BONUS: A close, sloppy win like this can pay dividends down the road and perhaps in the playoffs. In the second half, the Lions dug deep and found what kind of team they were. 

NEXT UP: Jacksonville Jaguars (2-8) at Lions (8-1), 1 p.m. on Sunday at Ford Field.