NFL – Page 2 – Lions Lowdown

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 to clean up mistakes, get back on track to face Commanders

ALLEN PARK — Coming off a disappointing loss to the Vikings, the message is clear for what the Lions need to do to get back on track Sunday against the Commanders.

“I just want to see us play our brand of football for 60 minutes — our style. I want to see us line up with the urgency, the intensity, I want to see the focus, I want to see the finish on the football – offense and defense,’’ coach Dan Campbell said on Wednesday. “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 and coaching on a championship-level.’’

Then there is the kicker.

“More importantly, I want to play a helluva lot better than we did last week. We need to amp this thing up, clean this thing up. Let’s play disciplined football for 60 minutes. It doesn’t have to be perfect, I’m not looking for perfect, let’s clean some of this stuff up,’’ the coach added.

The team has not lost back-to-back games since October 2022, Campbell’s second season. They are a half-game out of first place in the NFC North.

While Minnesota played well, the Lions made it easier for them with too many penalties and miscues.

“I think the biggest deal was that it was very hurtful watching the Lions beat the Lions, ‘’ 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.’’

Immediately after the loss, Campbell noted he was not in panic mode. That may be the biggest key to limiting back-to-back losses. That, and a talented roster and coaching staff.

“It’s kind of who we are, just finding a way to bounce back and be resilient, and playing well after losing a game or not playing well and responding the right way or practicing the right way today like we did today,’’ Goff said on Wednesday. “It’s all who we are and what we’re built for.’’

Montgomery said it’s hard to come back in the building after a tough loss. And Campbell and his mentality are key win or lose.

“I think the biggest deal with Dan is he’s consistent with who he is. The expectations are not created by the outside world, they’re created by his own standards,’’ Montgomery said. “As you look at him and get into the week we’re right back to work. At the same time we do have an understanding of the urgency and what we need to get done. I think he’s very urgent in the way he attacks things. He doesn’t let guys sit on it for a day or two.’’

David Shaw, passing game coordinator, also credits the attitude from the top.

“Coach Campbell is as good as there is, we always turn inward — what can we do better? Coach says it all the time, he starts with himself — what I can do better and everybody else,’’ Shaw said, “Let’s all come together and be better versions of ourselves than we were the week before. We don’t shy away from criticism, because if you want to get better you have to take that criticism.

“We were humming pretty good a few weeks ago. We’re not that far away from it. … We’re not as far away as it looks but sometimes the hardest and most difficult part of what we do is to get that much better.

UP NEXT: Lions (5-3) at Washington Commanders (3-6), 4:25 p.m., Sunday.

Lions look to get Jameson Williams more involved in the offense

ALLEN PARK — Jameson Williams should play a larger role in the Detroit Lions offense. In the win over Tampa Bay, before the bye week, the wide receiver was targeted twice but had no catches.

Actually he had one for 14 yards but it was negated by a questionable offensive pass interference penalty.

Scottie Montgomery, assistant head coach/wide receivers coach, called it a “great back shoulder catch” but then zipped his lips to prevent paying a penalty.

The way Williams handled it, showed his growing maturity level.

“I thought that was really going to frustrate him – it’s frustrating but it didn’t frustrate him to the point where he didn’t come back and have questions about what was going on and what we saw,’’ Montgomery said. “We have to get to the point where we’re not talking about potential we’re talking about more production and we’ll get there.’’

So far in seven games, Williams has 17 catches for 289 yards and two touchdowns.

The week before the Bucs’ win, in a loss at Kansas City, Williams had six catches on seven targets for 66 yards and a touchdown.

His most productive game yard-wise this season was two receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown in a win over Chicago.

“We want to win the game, we want to score points and I think that’s the primary for everybody. But of course, yeah, we’d love to get (Williams) involved more, get him to rock in a million different ways,’’ quarterback Jared Goff said. “And he’s explosive – I know defenses are worried about him at all times and we need to find ways to continue to keep him involved.”

During the bye week, the coaches were studying film on how to get the most out of each player.

“It’s just one of those situations – it’s one of the things I studied where (Williams) is in the progression, what happens when he is first, second, third in the progression,’’ Montgomery said.

“It’s kinda been all over the place. Either the progression started and he’s open behind the first progression or he’s the second progression and we don’t quite connect. Or we do everything right — the O-line everything is right and we don’t make the play down the field’’

Montgomery said it’s a combination of all those things. They’re working to get Williams more opportunities.

It’s a process and it doesn’t start during game week.

“It starts the moment that you walk into a room as a coach, you’ve got certain standards for guys, you also have to create a level of understanding that is selfless but you also have to have a bit of a selfish nature to you,’’ Montgomery said. “Because receiver is one of the only jobs where everybody else has to do their job almost perfectly for you to get the opportunity and because you’re the punctuation mark or you’re the period or the question mark or the exclamation mark — right there to finish the sentence you have to have a different level of confidence to be able to finish drives, to finish plays, and finish with the ball in the end zone. It’s something we started a long time ago.’’

UP NEXT: Vikings (3-4) at Lions (5-2), 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 2 at Ford Field.