Tag: Matthew Stafford

Five reasons the Lions lost, 41-34, to the Rams; still a chance for playoffs but it’s slim

It certainly wasn’t the outcome the Lions wanted. After they were beaten, 41-34, by the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday their playoff chances took a hit, a big hit.

“We’ve got to get better, we have to move on. We can’t sulk about it, we can’t feel sorry for ourselves, we make the corrections and move on,’’ coach Dan Campbell said.

The loss dropped their chances of making it into the playoffs to around 40 percent. They would have to win their final three games to have a chance. A win over the Rams would have boosted that to 73 percent. The Lions dropped to 8-6 and remain third in the NFC North and out of the playoffs. 

“My message is don’t go numb when you get these losses – win, lose, win lose,’’ Campbell said. “We have to get out of that rut – it can’t be OK. It should burn at you, it should eat you up, do not go numb to the losing. It’s as simple as going back to work and we have to play better with Pittsburgh coming to town.’’

The coach said he doesn’t believe for a minute that any of his players have lost confidence. He said they’re frustrated because they don’t like losing.

“I go back to this, the core of this group, they’re the right guys. They’ve been through this,’’ Campbell said. “Most of those guys know what the dumps look like and we’re not in the dumps. They know what that was like – back to back to back to back losses. You don’t ever want to even get a taste of that again.’’

Five reasons why the Lions lost:

ONE: The third quarter did not go well for the Lions on either side of the ball. The defense gave up 24 points and 272 yards in the second half, while the offense could manage just 10 points in the second half, all in the fourth quarter after amassing 24 first-half points. “The third quarter we have to be able to stop the bleeding offensively and we weren’t,’’ Campbell said. “We never got our run game going. I thought (Jared) Goff, (Amon-Ra St. Brown and (Jameson Williams)  played their tails off. I thought they played at a really high level to give us a chance.’’

TWO: Detroit’s defense just couldn’t stop the explosive plays from Matthew Stafford and the Rams’ offense. Stafford was 24 of 38 for 368 yards, a pair of TDs, one INT and he was sacked twice.  Puka Nacua had 9 catches for 181 yards while Colby Parkinson had 5 catches for 75 yards and two TDs. The Rams run game was effective with Kyren Williams (15-78, 2 TDs) and Blake Corum (11-71, 1 TD). “We knew that team didn’t make mistakes, it cost us. We couldn’t do enough,’’ Campbell said.

THREE: The Lions could not get the run game going which is usually key to the offense. On the plus side, Jared Goff had a solid game finding A,on-Ra St. Brown (13 catches, 163 yds, 2 TDs) and Jameson Williams (7 for 135 and 1 TD). Goff finished 25 of 41 for 338 yards, 3 touchdowns and was sacked once. “When you can’t get the run going, it limits what you can do and what you can do off of it,’’ Campbell said. “I don’t regret for one minute getting the ball to St. Brown and Jamo but we’ve got to get the run game going.’’

FOUR: Aidan Hutchinson intercepted Stafford early in the first, but it was the defense’s only takeaway of the game and it wasn’t enough. In the previous win over Dallas, the three takeaways were huge.

FIVE: Campbell’s play-calling in the second half was somewhat confusing at times. Yes, he wanted to get the run game going, but on a third-and-11 inthe fourth quarter, he put the ball in the hands of Jahmyr Gibbs who just could not break through. They settled for a field goal when a more aggressive approach might have paid off.  

UP NEXT: Pittsburgh Steelers at Lions, 4:25 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 20 at Ford Field. The Steelers face the Dolphins on Monday night.

Calvin Johnson to be inducted into Detroit Lions ring of honor on Monday

Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson will be inducted into the Pride of the Lions ring of honor at halftime during Monday night’s Detroit Lions game against the Seahawks at Ford Field.
Coach Dan Campbell, who was Johnson’s teammate for two seasons, has a behind-the-scenes perspective.

“I’ve said this I don’t know how many times, but I’ll continue to say, I think what’s unique about Calvin —  I was fortunate to play with him, it wasn’t very long and he was a pup — when you have the ability that guy has, the things God gave him, and then he gives everything he’s got, he worked at his craft, he was an unselfish player, he was a great teammate,’’ Campbell said on Saturday.

 “It’s no wonder he’s a Hall of Famer. Those guys, they’re kind of rare, very rare. I just think he was the total package as a player, as a teammate, as a person and it speaks volumes for the team, the organization to have him back in the fold, to be able to honor him because he deserves that, he’s earned that,’’ Campbell added. “He’s a helluva dude.”

Johnson, who played for nine seasons, holds numerous Lions pass receiving records including: career receptions – 731, receiving yards – 11,619, receiving touchdowns – 83, most receiving yards in a single game in regulation – 329. He was a six-time Pro Bowler and voted to the first team All-Pro three times. 

He set the NFL record for most receiving yards in a season (1,964) on Dec. 22, 2012, while playing with broken fingers. In that loss to the Falcons, Johnson finished with 225 yards on 11 catches.

In the book, “Game of My Life Lions” (written by me), Johnson said that was definitely his most memorable game. He needed 182 yards to break Jerry Rice’s record, but there wasn’t a ton of pressure because one game remained.

His first catch that day was a 49-yard bomb from Matthew Stafford. 

“Coming off the first reception, right off the bat early in the game, I went to the sideline, don’t know who I was talking to, my coach, he might have said we don’t (have to) worry today,’’ Johnson said in the book. 

After the record-breaking catch, he found his father on the sidelines and presented him with the football.

Nicknamed ‘Megatron’ he also holds a number of NFL receiving records including most receiving yards in a single season – 1,964 yards (2012), fastest to 11,000 receiving yards (127 games), most consecutive games with at least 10 receptions (4), most 100-yard receiving games in a single season (11, tied with Michael Irvin), most seasons with 1,600 yards receiving – 2 (tied with 3 others). 

Johnson retired in 2016 and has been frequently seen at Ford Field games for the past few seasons.. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021.

It’s fitting that Johson’s honor comes on Lions homecoming weekend. He’s expected to have 92 former Lions join him on the field for his induction at half-time. They include old-timers like Greg Landry and Eddie Murray; long-timers like Jason Hanson and Robert Porcher; and some of Johnson’s teammates like Golden Tate, Stephen Tulloch and Glover Quin.

The Monday after: Thoughts on the secondary, Amon-Ra St. Brown and ‘Reba’

ALLEN PARK — The Lions basic motto on Monday boiled down to a simple four words: More work to do.

This comes after a comeback 26-20 overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night at a rocking Ford Field..

Coach Dan Campbell said win or lose his message would have been the same. He wants to get better every week.

Five thoughts on Monday: 

ONE: Campbell liked that the defense took the Rams out of their game and into more of a quick game. “When you run almost 80 plays and you only give up 20 points, that’s pretty good. That’s a good start,’’ Campbell said on Monday. “It was a good win.’’

TWO: While the team was pleased with the win, they are their own toughest critics. Defensive lineman Alim McNeill explained: “I mean it’s because you want to hold them to zero points. We had them at 3 at halftime. We wanted to keep them there, 3 too many,’’ McNeill said on Monday. “That’s always our mindset is how can you get better everyday because you want to hold them to zero. You can’t score, you can’t win.’’

McNeill said the defense’s identity is violent. 

“We want to be feared, we want to be violent. That’s how defenses win games. That’s our advantage is fear,’’ said McNeill who watched episodes of “Reba” on Netflix until 4 a.m. after the game.

THREE: It is not that WR Amon-Ra St. Brown was an afterthought, it just looked like it on the stat sheet. Even though QB Jared Goff passed for 217 yards, St. Brown had just three catches for 13 yards and was targeted six times. Campbell said they tried to get him involved.

“We called his number quite a few times. It felt like, for whatever reason, either coverage took it away or something happens on the inside slant. There were just these things, it kind of was one of those games,’’ Campbell said. “He’s constantly somebody we think about. That doesn’t go away. Certainly we want to get him targeted more than what he showed yesterday.’’

FOUR: The young secondary was tested by Matthew Stafford who passed for 317 yards. 

“We’ve got a lot of room to grow, but there were things in that game I was really proud of on the back end,’’ Campbell said.

He mentioned good games by Carlton Davis Jr., Brian Branch and rookie Terrion Arnold.

“TA, it’s very evident it’s not too big for him. He’s got a lot to clean up, but it was very promising,’’ Campbell said. “He was in stride, he showed up and he’s only going to get better.’’

FIVE: Campbell emphasized the remarkable game by RB David Montgomery, as the big reason the Lions pulled out the overtime win. “D-Mo put that game on his shoulders. He willed that to happen,’’ the coach said. On the second play of overtime, a first-and-10 at Detroit’s 42-yard line, Montgomery scampered for 21 yards. Campbell said he could tell at that point that Montgomery was up to the task. In that eight-play drive Montgomery had five carries for 45 yards including the 1-yard touchdown run.

BONUS: NBC’s “Today Show” aired a segment on Monday featuring the Lions’ five offensive line starters who all happen to be dads to young children. It’s another bond that brings them together – sometimes in the pool at the same swim lessons. Check it out.

UP NEXT: Tampa Bay Bucs (1-0) at Detroit Lions (1-0), 1 p.m. on Sunday at Ford Field.