Tag: jared goff

Five things to watch as Lions face undefeated Seahawks; injury update, prediction

Wearing basic black, the Detroit Lions will look to snap their three-game losing streak to the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night at Ford Field. Detroit has lost to Seattle for three straight seasons, including a 37-31 overtime loss last September.

The all-black alternate uniforms were last a Lions wardrobe staple from 2005 to 2007 when they were worn twice a season. They have a certain appeal to players and fans too but it will take more than cool-looking black duds to defeat the Seahawks.

The Seahawks (3-0) have outscored opponents 73-43 starting the season with three straight wins. The Lions (2-1) would like to extend their win streak heading into the bye week.

Campbell said there are no higher stakes in this matchup.

“I told the team, ‘Everything’s about one this week. It’s about one and that’s today, one day. It’s about one rep, it’s one week, it’s one game, it’s one win and just focus on that.’ I think we have to get back to honing our craft a little bit. We’re going to do some one-on-ones and pad them up early and then take them off, but just so we get back in the – you start getting in the game plan for weeks and you start focusing so much on the plan. Sometimes you forget about the fundamentals,’’ Campbell said. “You don’t mean to, it just kind of – so this is a way to refocus ourselves, get back to the craft of what we do, the one-one-ones, running routes, covering, one-on-one pass pro in protection up front with the backs, tight ends, all of that. So, that’s the focus.”

Five things to watch as Lions face the Seahawks:

ONE: The Lions’ offense is still catching up to the defense and special teams three games in. While it scored 20 points in the first half in the win over the Cardinals, it was held scoreless in the second half.

Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson expects more of his group and said they have yet to play a 60-minute game on offense.  “The first half (in Arizona) certainly felt more like things that have been going our way in the past, but I guess that second half, when you turn on the tape, I think there were plays to be had and we just didn’t capitalize on it,’’ Johnson said. “…. Fortunately, our defense and special teams have been playing really, really well. I know it’s coming, we’re just too talented of a group to not have more production and more points than what we’ve had and so it’s just a matter of time before we break through.”

TWO: It isn’t lost on Jared Goff that Seattle’s pass defense is the best in the NFL.  “They’ve got good players, they’ve got good schemes. (CB Devon), Witherspoon, just flies around, he’s a great player. I think (CB Riq) Woolen’s been a great player for a long time,’’ Goff said. “They’ve got a lot of good players over there, man. They’re really well-coached, you can tell, and they play hard.”

THREE: The Lions defense will be making adjustments due to the season-ending injury to DL Marcus Davenport and the injury to Derrick Barnes. DL Josh Paschal gets the call to fill in for Davenport. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said the similarity between the two is they are both able to rush with power. “Obviously, Davenport’s the longer guy so he has a couple more tools that he can use than Paschal, but Paschal is more squatty, to the ground, so he’s able to use his spin moves and things like that to win,’’ Glenn said. “But they both have advantages between each other that they can go out there and be successful.”

Glenn said someone has to step up to fill in for Barnes and the linebacker room has plenty of talent.

“Things change, players change, defense changes at times depending on who you have as players, and we have to do everything we can to figure out what guy’s going to play that role and what defense can we play to go out there and be successful,’’ Glenn said.

FOUR: In leading the Seahawks to three wins, Geno Smith has completed 74.8 percent of his passes (compared to 66 percent for Goff. “Geno  plays really good football. This scheme is good for him. It allows him to get up there, they do some no huddle and he can see what the defense is doing, get the best play available, calm, cool, collected, and as the game goes on, the longer you keep him in it, let them play with their rhythm,’’ Campbell said. “Geno’s going to find it and there’s been some confusion, different areas, first three games where they’ve hurt teams, gotten big plays to (DK) Metcalf. So, we have our hands full but we’re looking forward to it. Our place, Monday night, our guys are ready to go, they’ll be ready to go.”

FIVE: The Lions defense is ranked fourth in the NFL in rushing defense but expects more of a challenge from running backs Zach Charbonnet and  Kenneth Walker. “(Walker) is very explosive, he’s dynamic with these jump cuts, he has a really good stiff arm, so you have to be able to run through tackles and understand that’s how he operates as a runner. We have to gang tackle, and that’s both of those guys,’’ Glenn said. “And I know you guys know about us, everything’s still make sure we stop the run and try to make a team one dimensional. So, it’s going to be a challenge. It’s going to be a challenge to stop both of those guys.”

LIONS INJURY UPDATE: C Frank Ragnow (pectoral) is out; DB Brian Branch (illness) is doubtful; CB Ennis Rakestraw (hamstring) is questionable; S Ifeatu Melifonwu moved to IR; others including TE Sam LaPorta will play.

SEAHAWKS INJURY UPDATE: DE Leonard Williams, LB Boye Mafe, DT Byron Murphy II, LB Uchenna Nwosu are out; LB Jerome Baker is questionable.

PREDICTION: Lions 28, Seahawks 24

Lions DE Marcus Davenport out for season; LB Derrick Barnes to miss ‘significant’ time

Campbell confident with depth on his roster

ALLEN PARK — Lions defensive end Marcus Davenport is done for the season after an elbow injury in the win at Arizona on Sunday.

Linebacker Derrick Barnes, who took a cut block to his right knee early in the game, will be out for a significant amount of time but there is no exact timeframe because testing is not complete. It’s unknown at this point if he will require surgery.

Not great news to lose two defensive starters, but coach Dan Campbell said on Monday the roster is built to handle this.

“It’s not our first rodeo, we’ve been through this. We got hit like this immediately in ‘21. I pretty much said coming out of that year, we would never have another year where we felt like this got on us,’’ Campbell said.  “That’s why you have a 69-man roster because everyone of those guys is going to have to help you at one point of another.’’

The team knows it’s next man up.

“We don’t bat an eye. We acknowledge there are some good players that can be down but this is your opportunity now, next man step up and help us,’’ Campbell said. “There’s no looking back, nobody cares, nobody feels sorry for us, we just move forward.’’

Barnes has been playing lights-out during the first three games. 

“It’s going to hurt to lose Barnes, Barnes is playing at a high level. But if it’s going to happen in any room the linebacker room gives you faith, all of those guys can play. We have a ton of faith in those guys,’’ Campbell said.

On Sunday they were already missing linebacker Alex Anzalone, who was sidelined with a concussion, and then lost Barnes early in the game.

Linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez started with Jack Campbell who was making the calls. Jalen Reeves-Maybin saw action as did Ben Niemann. Campbell said Niemann didn’t take any of those reps in practice but he stepped in and didn’t miss a beat.

Defensive end Josh Paschal, who played 18 defensive snaps on Sunday, will help fill the gap left by Davenport’s absence.

“Paschal, this is going to be big for him, he’s going to take a load over there now and he played an outstanding game. I thought he played really well yesterday,’’Campbell said. “He’s physical,  continues to grow. We’re going to need him to step up and we have all the faith in the world he will.’’

Campbell had better news with the others who were injured Sunday. Defensive lineman Alim McNeill and tight end Sam LaPorta (ankle) are day to day. Brian Branch is in concussion protocol. 

The Lions have an extra day of rest because they don’t play until Monday night. Then their bye week comes the first weekend of October which willt give them extra time to heal.

UP NEXT: Seattle Seahawks (3-0) at Detroit Lions (2-1) at 8:15 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 30, at Ford Field.

Resilient Detroit Lions run down Cardinals in win; bottle up Kyler Murray

Five reasons for the bounce-back victory

Think of these Detroit LIons and the word “grit” immediately comes to mind. Hey, it’s a fact. However the resilience of the group, under coach Dan Campbell, carried them far last year  and it continues early on this season.

On Sunday night, the Lions roared out of the gate and held on for a 20-13 win over the Arizona Cardinals on the road. Detroit was coming off a 20-16 loss at Ford Field to the Bucs last week.

“It’s good to get back in the win column. Our guys were locked and ready to go this week. I felt like we cleaned up a lot of things that needed cleaning up,’’ Campbell said. “It’s still not perfect but ultimately we knew, and our guys knew, that this was going to be one of those grinding, gritty, unglorious jobs that were going to need to be done on the O-line, D-line, receivers. And that’s exactly the game it was.’’

The goal was to establish the run early, along with bottling up Cardinals’ Kyler Murray who was coming off a win with a perfect quarterback rating.

Mission accomplished.

It was a different game than the previous week and that’s OK with Campbell because along with grit and resilience, this team can match up with any type of opponent.

“That’s what makes you feel pretty good. I feel we can play different types of games. We can do whatever we need to with special teams, defense and offense. We just have to find a way to win every week and they could be different every time,’’ Campbell said.

Five of the reasons the Lions won:

ONE: Detroit’s defense allowed the Cardinals to convert six first downs in the first drive which resulted in a touchdown pass from Kyler Murray to Marvin Harrison Jr.  After that it was tough sledding for QB Kyler Murray and his gang, grabbing just 11 first downs the rest of the game. They were just 1-of-9 on third-down attempts while the Lions were 6-of-12. While Murray was sacked just once (by Aidan Hutchinson) he was pressured throughout including three straight incompletions midway through the fourth quarter. 

“Our coverage, I thought, for the most part, played pretty dang good. It was tight coverage and he had to make tight throws with tight coverage,’’ Campbell said. “… We knew they were going to get some, but we were able to do that and then I think a lot of it was offensively, we were able to possess the ball and put pressure on them. We were able to stay up two scores most of the game.’’

TWO: With two minutes left in the first half, the Lions appeared to catch a huge break when Goff had threw an apparent interception that was returned for a touchdown. However, the officials said the two-minute clock had gone off before the play. Campbell said he had heard the two-minute whistle at least a full second before the play. Four plays later from the Cardinals’ 21-yard line they scored on a hook-and-ladder play from Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown who passed it to Gibbs who ran into the endzone. That gave them a 20-7 lead just before the half. It was a huge turn-around.

THREE: Safe to say the Cardinals may be working on their run defense this week. David Montgomery (106 rushing) and Jahmyr Gibbs (83 rushing) gashed the Arizona defense early and often. Montgomery carried six times for 39 yards on the opening drive, finishing it off with a 1-yard touchdown run. 

“I think our backs, they kind of feed off each other – Montgomery and Gibbs and that O-line. They were able to establish the ground game and the physical side of it,’’ Campbell said. “It doesn’t mean you’re going to have 10-yard runs every time but you know what kind of game you’re about to walk into if youre the opponent – this is the type of day it’s going to be. That’s really what you want to establish.’’ Montgomery and Gibbs have each logged 70-plus scrimmage yards in each of the first three games which is a first in the NFL for a running back duo since 2006.

FOUR: Jared Goff was his usual steady self. Heck, he sealed the win on a keeper, sliding for the first down with 1:13 left. Goff got off to a good start with a 70-yard touchdown drive on the first possession. He didn’t throw an incompletion in the first half (12 of 12).  It almost looked easy, but throughout the game yards were tough to come by. He did throw one interception, but overall his numbers were good completing 18 of 23 attempts for 198 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

FIVE: Dan Campbell had the team ready for its first road game of the season. Following a loss where they were 1 of 7 in the red zone, he had said they could fix the problem and they did with two trips to the red zone and two touchdowns, both in the first half. “It was just a great team performance and I’m proud of the guys,’’ Campbell said.

UP NEXT: Seattle Seahawks (3-0) at Lions (2-1) at 8:15 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 30 at Ford Field.