Tag: NFL playoffs

Dan Campbell: Lions won’t hold anything back in first of 2 games against Vikings

Also updates on injuries, roster moves

ALLEN PARK — The Lions won’t hold anything back when they face the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday for a chance to clinch the NFC North division title.

In a strange scenario, they’ll face the Vikings twice in the last three weeks with a trip to the Dallas Cowboys in-between. The final regular season contest is against the Vikings at Ford Field on Jan. 7.

Lions coach Dan Campbell said the Vikings are a different team offensively and defensively than last season when Detroit split with Minnesota.

“It’s a little bit of a fresh take on them somewhat. That’s a good thing. Our whole focus is this is the first one, so let’s dive into let’s put the best gameplan we can,’’ Campbell said on Monday. 

The Lions (10-4) are coming off an impressive 42-17 win over the Denver Broncos while the Vikings (7-7) lost  27-24 in overtime to Cincinnati on Saturday.

“We can’t worry about game 2. After this, after Dallas, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,’’ Campbell said. “We can’t hold anything back, this is it, everything is about finding a way to get this one – the best gameplan we can possibly put together.’’

The Lions could clinch a playoff berth if Seattle loses to the Eagles on Monday Night Football. 

That would be great with Campbell, but the Lions’ focus on winning the NFC North remains clear.

“For us, that’s all you have to worry about. Let’s clean up what we clean up. We cleaned up the things from the Denver game with the team today — this is where we have to get better, this is what we did well, this is where we continue to go,’’ Campbell said. “We’ll put together a great game plan for these guys and we’ll know what we have to do against Minnesota.

INJURY/ROSTER UPDATE

LB Derrick Barnes injured his shoulder in Saturday’s win but returned to the game in the second half. WR Jameson Williams was banged up too, but Campbell said both appear to be fine.

Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and fullback Jason Cabinda will open their practice window this week. Gardner-Johnson suffered a torn pec in Week 2. Cabinda has been on injured reserve since Week 3.

Also, Campbell said rookie QB Hendon Hooker will likely be moved to the active roster.

UP NEXT: Lions at Minnesota Vikings, 1 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 24.

Five reasons the Lions bounced back with a 42-17 win over the Broncos

DETROIT — After losing two of three, and coming off a loss at the Chicago Bears, the Detroit Lions were able to get back in gear with a 42-17 win over the Denver Broncos on Saturday night at Ford Field.

“We just needed a win and we did that today. Look, we just cleaned up a couple things, focused on our job at hand, the details of it,’’ Lions coach Dan Campbell said “Honestly we didn’t start real hot early, we didn’t. We can’t do that, we can’t accept that – not with where we’re going. But we got out of it, the defense played well and found a rhythm. I thought (Jared) Goff played a really good game, a number of guys did.’’

With the win the Lions climb to 10-4 and can clinch a playoff spot with some help on Sunday. Two of their remaining three games are against the Vikings who lost on Saturday in overtime to the Bengals.

The Broncos had won six of seven entering Saturday’s game but were no match for the Lions who played one of their best games in several weeks.

Five reasons the Lions won: 

1. Jared Goff set a career-high with five touchdown passes. He started the game passing on the first five snaps which seemed odd but in the long run it worked. The ice was broken with a 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Sam LaPorta early in the second quarter. Goff was poised and never threw an interception. In fact, the Lions never turned the ball over which had been an issue. Goff was 24 of 34 for 278 yards and five TDs.

2. While the offense took a bit to get heated up, the defense ran out of the tunnel on fire. They held the Broncos to just 75 total net yards in the first half and just 1 of 6 on third-down attempts. “I just thought we were well prepared, we had a real good feel on what we were going to get, we knew what we had to take care of, we couldn’t let (Courtland) Sutton get going, we couldn’t let him launch,’’ Campbell said. Sutton was held to five catches for 71 yards.

3. In the loss at Chicago, LaPorta and Amon-Ra St Brown never were much of a factor. That all changed. When you’ve got offensive weapons like those two, you get them the ball. LaPorta had 5 catches for  56 yards and an amazing 3 touchdowns. St. Brown had seven catches for 112 yards and a touchdown. 

4. Campbell gave credit to defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn for calling a good game. It was the same with offensive guru Ben Johnson. Nothing risky was needed since the Lions held a 21-0 lead at the half. They got key guys involved and made a few effective changes on defense.

5. Much of the game was about attitude. You didn’t expect this bunch to shrug their collective shoulders after losing two of the previous three games and they certainly did not. Campbell keeps them on track. “The ability for our team to win against somebody of (Sean Payton’s) stature, a Super Bowl winning coach who does it right. It’s good, it’s a good win because I know what he’s about,’’ Campbell said. “I’m happy for our guys, that we got the win here, we needed it. We got to 10, now we’ve got 3 to go.’’

UP NEXT: The Lions play at the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, Dec. 24, then at Dallas on Dec. 30 and finish the regular season at home on Jan. 6 or 7.

Lions coach Dan Campbell remains confident after loss to Bears

Tough 4-game schedule looms, starting with Broncos

ALLEN PARK — After a dismal 28-13 loss at the Chicago Bears, all is not lost for the Lions this season. The playoffs remain a possibility. However with losses in two of the last three games, the road to finish the season could be bumpy.

The Lions, still atop the NFC North, have four games remaining and none will be easy. First, they host the Denver Broncos (7-6) on Saturday night at Ford Field. The Broncos have won six of their last seven thanks, in large part, to their defense. They’re coming off a 24-7 win at the Los Angeles Chargers where they forced two turnovers and sacked Chargers’ quarterbacks six times.

The Lions face the Vikings (7-6) in two of the last three games. In-between — on Dec. 30 —  they head to Dallas where the Cowboys (10-3) are coming off a big 33-13 win over the Eagles (10-3).

Coach Dan Campbell remains confident they can turn this around and win like they did earlier in the season.

“I know this, if you’ve got the right guys, the right coaches, you’ll find your way out of it,’’ Campbell said on Monday.

He said the key is to stay consistent.

“We start acting like the house is burning down, it’s going to get worse. We know what we’ve got to do, I know exactly what we have to do. I know this, it all starts (Tuesday), we’ve got to go back to work,’’ Campbell said. “We’ve got to put together a great game plan. We’re on a short week, this team is playing at a high level, they get takeaways (No. 1 in the league) they’re efficient on offense, so we have our hands full.’’

He said the good thing is it’s all in their hands.

“Honestly the teams that are winning and consistently win are the ones that do the little, little things right,’’ Campbell said. “The fundamentals, they take care of the football, they get takeaways. Those are the most consistent teams. All we have to do is get back to that, playing clean football. And it really is as simple as that. It doesn’t mean it’s easy, but it is that simple. It’s all in our hands, it’s all in our control and that’s the great thing about it.”

NEXT UP: Broncos at Lions, 8:15 p.m. on Saturday at Ford Field.