Tag: NFC

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 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.