NFC Championship – Page 2

Detroit Lions fall apart in second half, lose to 49ers in NFC Championship game

‘It’s like getting your heart ripped out’

A trip to the Super Bowl was there for the taking. The Lions jumped out aggressively on offense and defense in the first half at San Francisco on Sunday and took a 17-point lead into halftime.

All was good.

Then in the second half, everything fell apart.

“It’s like getting your heart ripped out, that’s hard,’’ an emotional coach Dan Campbell said afterward.

The San Francisco 49ers came back after a 24-7 halftime deficit and earned a trip to the Super Bowl with a 34-31 win. They will face the Kansas City Chiefs who beat the Baltimore Ravens in the earlier game.

Campbell said at halftime they weren’t doing backflips. They knew the 49ers would make a second-half run.

“We knew we were going to have to weather a storm in the second half. so when they started to make a push we weren’t surprised,’’ Campbell said. “We just couldn’t counter back and we’ve always been able to counterback we just couldn’t do it in this one.’’

One eight-minute stretch in the third quarter was the killer.

On a fourth-and-2 at the Niners’ 28, the Lions’ Jared Goff could not connect with Josh Reynolds so they turned the ball over on downs.

In the 49ers’ ensuing possession, Brock Purdy completed a 51-yard pass to Brandon Aiuyuk after it bounced off the helmet of Lions’ Kindle Vildor and into the hands of Aiyuk. San Francisco scored three plays later on the 6-yard touchdown pass to Aiyuk to close the gap, with Detroit then up 24-17.

Then when the Lions got the ball back Jahmyr Gibbs fumbled on first down and the Niners recovered at Detroit’s 24.Christian McCaffrey scored a touchdown four plays later to tie the game at 24-24.

Nothing worked for the Lions, allowing the Niners to score another touchdown and kick a field goal before Jameson Williams caught a touchdown pass with less than a minute left.

“We’ve been there before, so fourth quarter you feel like you’re going to get it back, we just couldn’t quite get over the hump,’’ Campbell said. “That hasn’t been us all year and it showed up today at the worst time.’’

Two key plays in the game were fourth downs that the Lions didn’t convert in the second half. On both they were in field goal range but Campbell chose to try for the first down instead,

“I just felt really good about us converting and getting our momentum and not letting them play long ball,’’ Campbell said. “They were bleeding the clock out and I wanted to get the upper hand back. It’s easy, hindsight, I get it, but I don’t regret those decisions. It’s hard, it didn’t come through. I understand the scrutiny I’ll get, that’s part of the gig, it just didn’t work out.’’

This was exactly how Campbell has coached all season and most of the time his gambles worked. It wasn’t a surprise he went for it on both.

In the first half the Lions rushed for 148 yards. In fact Gibbs (42 yards), David Montgomery (60) and Jameson Williams (42) each had more rushing yards than Christian McCaffrey (29). But in the second half the Lions only managed 34 rushing yards and could not stop the 49ers – McCaffrey finished with 90 rushing and 42 receiving yards.

Campbell couldn’t exactly put his finger on the difference. It’s a young team without much playoff experience, but he didn’t really use that as an excuse.

“One of the things we always tell everybody who’s never been here, particularly the young players, you don’t know which play is going to make the difference … You can only say so much you’ve got to live it, unfortunately you’ve got to get your heart ripped out which we did,’’ Campbell said.

“It’s a lesson learned. I told those guys this might be our only shot.. Do I think that? No. Do I believe that? No. However, I know how hard it is to get here,’’ the coach said. “I’m well aware it’s going to be twice as hard to get back to this point next year. … It’s going to be tough, you’re not hiding from anybody anymore everybody wants a piece of you which is fine. … We had an opportunity and we just didn’t close it out. It stings.’’

The Lions accomplished much this season. They won the NFC North with a 12-5 record and then won the franchise’s first playoff game in 32 years in the wildcard round over the Rams. They followed it up with a divisional win over the Bucs.

Lions finally get chance at NFC Championship; 5 things to watch as Detroit faces 49ers

ALLEN PARK — It’s not that it’s been 32 years since the Lions have been to an NFC Championship game. That doesn’t really play into the preparation for Sunday’s matchup at San Francisco.

The 49ers have been to the NFC Championship game four of the last five years. It’s all new territory for most of the Lions.

Coach Dan Campbell will not try to calm them down if they’re too emotional at kickoff.

“I’m not pulling them back, we’re going. They’ll adjust on the fly. We’re going in, they’ll be ready,’’ Campbell said.

Throughout the week, the media attention has been more intense with more national and local coverage and more expected of Campbell and the players, per the NFL guidelines.

In the meantime, Campbell has tried to treat this as another preparation week for just another game.

“The football stuff is no different than it was getting ready for Kansas City in Week One. It’s identical,’’ Campbell said on Friday. “I feel like we’ve handled it well. That’s the whole of it. I feel like we’re handling that well, that portion of it.’’

The Lions beat the Rams and the Bucs in the first two rounds of the playoffs to reach this point. So it’s not like it’s the first go-around for all these guys. It’s just that a win on Sunday will earn them a trip to the Super Bowl.

Still first things first and Campbell knows that.

“This is the next game and they’ve done this all year. Our guys have done it all year. We’ve done things right, we understand what it’s going to take, we respect the opponent, know what they’re capable of. We know exactly what we’re capable of,’’ Campbell said.

Five things to watch:

1. Jared Goff and the offense will have to break through linebackers Dre Greenlaw and Fred Warner to find success moving the ball. “Both those guys are really dang good. And I’ve been fortunate, or unfortunate, to be on the other side of the ball from them quite sometimes. And they’re really good. They’re both very smart. They’re both very fast,’’ Goff said. “They both play sideline to sideline. They’re both involved in the run game and the pass game. And yeah, lot of respect for both those guys.”

2. The Lions have excelled at stopping the run – they’re rated second in the NFL – and they can’t let up against Christian McCaffery and the 49ers offense. It is key to their plan. “You’ve got to stop the run because if you don’t, they’ll rush for 250 on you and then they won’t even worry about passing. Everything has to start there,’’ Campbell said. “Look, (coach Kyle) Shanahan does an unbelievable job of – he’s going to work one side and make you overreact and then he counters off of it and then he play-passes off of it and works the middle of the field. So, look, you’ve got your hands full in both regards. And (QB Brock) Purdy does a hell of a job. They throw a lot of daggers middle of the field, and he does a hell of a job with touch, timing, rhythm, but we have to stop this run game. It just has to start there.’’

3. While tight end Sam LaPorta has been golden for the Lions, tight end George Kittle has done it for years for the 49ers at a high level. Trying to contain him is key. Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said it’s all about matchups “Because for a linebacker to cover him, that’s where the speed and agility come into play. And when a safety has to cover him, that’s when a size factor comes into play. So, the thing is we have versatile players on our end too, alright, that can do a good job of covering that player. But listen, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy,’’ Glenn said. “They just know they’ve got to be on their P’s and Q’s to get ready to cover that player, so he’s one of the best in the League. He’s an elite player. What he does that’s different from most tight ends is his ability to block. I think he’s tough, he’s gritty, he’s physical and he has the receiving skills to beat you in a number of different ways..”

4. The Lions’ multi-dimensional offense can be a headache for defenses. Amon-Ra St. Brown and LaPorta top the list along with rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs who has scored a touchdown in each of the first two playoff games. “He’s improved in everything. I mean, I think you can see that. His protection has improved and that’s not something that – you say, ‘Well, we got him in here to protect.’ No. But he’s got to be able to do it and he’s grown leaps and bounds in that regard,’’ Campbell said. “I think you see he’s getting better in the pass game out of the backfield. That was somewhere we felt like there was a ton of room to grow. And it’s getting better, and better, and better. And he’s still got so much room to go there. But his running ability, his vision, he’s just, to me, he really is a complete back that’s continued to develop. But really I felt like the – we played the Ravens early in the year and that’s when you felt like, ‘Alright, here come – the light’s coming on.’ And he’s just, every week, gotten better, and better, and better. So, he’s playing at a high level right now.”

5. Campbell and GM Brad Holmes built this team to play anywhere at any time. They’ve found success on the road this season with a 6-3 record. It may help that Goff is familiar with the 49ers Levi’s Stadium from his time with the Rams. It won’t be as loud as it was at Ford Field – not a chance – but it will be a hostile environment. It’s a long way for Lions’ fans to travel but it’s expected about 20 percent of the crowd will be wearing Honolulu blue. While the weather will be the same for both teams, the Lions are not used to playing in outdoor stadiums.

INJURY UPDATE: WR Kalif Raymond (knee) and G Jonah Jackson (knee) are out; CB Chase Lucas (illness) and QB Hendon Hooker (tooth) are questionable. Also, TE Zach Ertz was not elevated from the practice squad so will not be active.

PREDICTION: Lions 27, Niners 24. This is likely to come down to the wire. Campbell says the Lions were built for this, now they have a chance to prove it.

Lions coach Dan Campbell, QB Jared Goff well prepared for 49ers

Red Wings fans show Goff love; injury updates

ALLEN PARK — It all comes down to this. The city of Detroit is primed to bring home an NFC Championship and a spot in the Super Bowl.

Newfound fans — young, old and in-between — have found something to love in this bunch of Lions who already have found more success than teams for more than three decades

The Lions face the favored 49ers at San Francisco at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. They’re preparing like it’s another game, not one that has so much on the line.

“We’re right where we need to be, the minute you start trying to make this greater than it is which is another football game right in front of you, you prepare the same way, you practice the same way, you put your socks on the same way, that’s when you run into problems,’’ coach Dan Campbell said on Friday.

Campbell, in his third season, has been the catalyst for the turn-around. He’s earned the total respect of the players who would run through walls for him.

Quarterback Jared Goff said the coach’s super power list would be long, but it starts with his people skills.

“The No. 1 thing that I think about with him is his emotional intelligence, how well he can read the room and know people. That would be characteristic No. 1 of being a leader and why he is so good at that,’’ Goff said on Friday.

“He knows when to push, when to pull, when to tell you he needs a little bit more from you, when to love you up. He’s got such a great feel for all of that which is why he’s so special,’ Goff added.

The love and respect between Goff and Campbell is mutual. The coach expects the best on Sunday from Goff who has a Super Bowl appearance with the Rams on his resume.

“He’s going to be great. I really – I feel great about Goff. He’s the least of my concerns. He’s going to be just fine. For him, he’s done this before. He understands it. We’re back on the road, and it’ll be a loud environment,’’ Campbell said.

“But I mean, we’ve – man, we’ve been in some big games on the road over the last year and a half and he’s performed well. And look, we threw a ton on him last week. And I know it was at home, but we put a lot on his plate. As advanced as that defense was, all the different things they do, that required that he take on a heavy load to get us in the right play, find the matchups, read coverage and he was outstanding with that. And so, he’s going to be fine. He’s going to be ready to go, so I’m not worried about that.”

Jar-ed Goff, Jar-ed Goff

While Goff was not at the Red Wings game on Thursday night, the fans there were doing the Jar-ed Goff chant that started weeks ago at Ford Field. Videos were sent to Goff.

“That was pretty cool. … Pretty fun to be a part of a city that cares so much,’’ Goff said on Friday.

Injury update

As expected G Jonah Jackson (knee) and WR/PR Kalif Raymond (knee) are out. QB Hendon Hooker (tooth) and CB Chase Lucas (illness) are questionable.

Linebacker Alex Anzalone (shoulder/ribs) and center Frank Ragnow (ankle, toe, knee, back) will play.

“Frank’s doing well. Frank will be ready to go. You’re not going to hold him out of this one, he gets better every day. He’ll be ready,’’ Campbell said on Friday.