Tag: Sam LaPorta

Five reasons the Lions topped the Bengals for 4th straight win

It was smooth sailing for the Lions in Cincinnati, until the Bengals offense found a bit of life in the second half.

Down 28-3, the Bengals came back in the second half scoring 14 straight points on two touchdown passes from Jake Browning to wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. Then another touchdown late in the fourth on a pass to Tee Higgins.

It wasn’t enough. The Lions won their fourth straight game with a 37-24 victory in Cincinnati late Sunday afternoon. In all four wins the Lions have scored 34 or more points.

“That’s a good win. We’ll take that. Do we have things to clean up, was it perfect? No, it wasn’t. But man we did what we needed to do,’’ coach Dan Campbell said. “I thought our guys were ready to compete, we fought. Once again we played complementary football. That’s what great teams do. We always find a way. I thought our defense came out hot, they set the tone for the game.’’

Campbell preaches complementary football every week and they provided it for him agains Sunday.

“When we need help the offense responds, we go all the way down the field, flush it out and open it back up again,’’ Campbell said. “I’m proud of the guys, that’s a good win.’’

Five reasons the Lions won:

ONE: Turnovers. “When you really start getting good at them, you start hunting for them. Our guys are hunting for them, they become contagious,’’ Campbell said. “This is the first time since I’ve been here that we’re getting them in bunches early in the year.’’ Bengals QB Jake Browning was intercepted three times, and the Lions scored following two of those. Credit Amik Robertson, Kerby Joseph and Alex Anzalone with interceptions. Linebacker Derrick Barnes sealed the win with a sack and safety with less than 2 minutes left. The defense came out on fire and made Browning’s life miserable early. Aidan Hutchinson’s strip sack early in the fourth was recovered by the Bengals. Hutchinson also had a safety negated on a penalty and was pressuring Browning all day.  

TWO: Jared Goff was sacked twice in the first half. One was a sack-fumble, recovered by the Bengals. It wasn’t all on Giovanni Manu, who was starting in place of the injured Taylor Decker, at left tackle, but Decker was missed. Campbell said Manu had ups and downs in his first NFL start. Goff had gone 3 straight games without being sacked. But credit the Bengals defense for sacking him twice more in the second half. Goff led the offense to a 14-3 half-time lead and after the Bengals closed the gap to 28-17, Goff led a five-minute drive resulting in a 12-yard touchdown pass to rookie WR Isaac TeSlaa. Goff finished 19-23 for 258 yards and three touchdowns. 

THREE: RB Jahmyr Gibbs scored on a 20-yard pass play from Goff. He is the first Lions player to produce four rushing TDs and one receiving TD through the first five games of a season since Jahvid Best in 2010. Gibbs has scored a TD in six-straight games against AFC opponents. He had 12 carries for 54 yards and two catches for 33 yards.

FOUR: RB David Montgomery was playing in his hometown of Cincinnati where he was a quarterback in high school. He’s still got the arm. On a wildcat play from the 3-yard line, he tossed a touchdown pass to Brock Wright. He also ran in from the 8-yard line to score. Sunday marked the 14th time that teammates had reached the endzone in the same game. All in all, a good homecoming. He finished with 18 carries for 65 yards. Campbell called Montgomery one of the team’s heartbeat guys, saying everyone respects him and roots for him.

FIVE:  The Lions defense was solid in the first quarter. They let up on the Bengals’ last drive of the first half which resulted in a field goal. However, Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase and Browning connected for a pair of touchdowns in the second half. With just three minutes left, Browning connected with Tee Higgins for a touchdown. 

BY THE NUMBERS: WR Amon-Ra St. Brown had 8 catches for 200 yards. He has passed Brett Perriman (5,244) for the fourth-most receiving yards in franchise history. .… TE Sam LaPorta caught 5 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown. … It was the 14th time that Montgomery and Gibbs have each reached the endzone in the same game. … Goff has tied an NFL record by completing 70 percent of his passes in six-straight road games. … LB Jack Campbell led defense with 11 tackles and a forced fumble.

UP NEXT: Lions (4-1) at Kansas City Chiefs, 8:20 p.m. on Sunday, Oct 12.  The Chiefs (2-2) play the Jaguars (3-1) on Monday night football.

Five reasons the Lions were able to fight back to defeat the 49ers

It did not seem like a ‘meaningless’ game

Another Lions win, more franchise records.

With the 40-34 victory at the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night, the Lions have won 14 games in a season for the first time in history and finished with an 8-0 road record, another first.

While Monday night’s game technically didn’t mean a thing for the playoff standings, coach Dan Campbell had said they were going out to win it, no holding back. Like always, he was a man of his word.

He said it was a tough decision but the right thing was to play the guys, saying he owed it to the team. “You cross your fingers and hope nobody gets hurt,’’ Campbell said. “We were fortunate.”

Sunday night’s game against the Vikings at Ford Field is for the NFC No. 1 seed and a bye. The loser will be the No. 5 seed. Huge difference. Campbell called it a “fairy tale” scenario with two 14-win teams battling it out.

On Monday night, Detroit’s defense tightened up, holding San Francisco to just 14 points (one touchdown with 43 seconds left) in the second half, after allowing three touchdowns in the first half. The 49ers were up 21-13 at the half.

Prior to the game, the Lions downplayed the revenge factor. They lost to the 49ers, 34-31, in the same location in the NFC Championship game last January.

“It was good to get this one, good to come to the scene of the crime and get it done,’’ Campbell said.

Five reasons the Lions won:

ONE: Jared Goff had the Lions offense rolling, throwing three touchdown passes – to Jameson Williams, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta. “Goff played lights out,’’ Campbell said. Goff said he thinks the whole offense has been playing at an elevated level. He completed 26 of 34 attempts for 303 yards. He’s completed at least 70 percent of his passes for 11 straight games. The Lions set a single-season franchise record by producing 20-plus points in 14-straight games. He’s the only quarterback to pass for three or more touchdowns in four straight games in franchise history. 

TWO:  Safety Kerby Joseph intercepted Brock Purdy twice in the second half to give him a league-leading nine picks. The Lions took advantage of both turnovers, scoring a touchdown on a pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown and then a touchdown scamper by Jahmyr Gibbs.  “When we needed it the most, he came up in a big way,’’ Campbell said, noting it wasn’t just his picks but he also made critical tackles. The Lions defense, which is missing so many key guys, did not have its best game. They could get linebacker Alex Anzalone back either for the Vikings or first playoff game.

THREE: While the Lions defense limited Purdy in the second half, they will have to play much better to beat Sam Darnold and the Vikings on Sunday night. Too often 49ers receivers were wide open and they had no answer for the play-action. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn has his work cut out although the Lions did beat the Vikings 31-29 on Oct 20 in Minnesota. “For me, do you want to play a little bit better? Yeah, you do in areas. We calmed some things down in the second half, A.G. and those guys did a good job. We talked about disruption and takeaways and we got those,’’ Campbell said of the defense. “I feel good because I know the most important thing is we do complement each other.’’

FOUR: The run game flourished again without the injured David Montgomery. Jahmyr Gibbs had a stellar showing with 161 yards from scrimmage — 18 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown, along with four catches for 46 yards. Running back Craig Reynolds pitched in with seven carries for 41 yards and two catches for 35 yards.

FIVE:  Wide receiver Jameson Williams scored the Lions first two touchdowns – one rushing for 3 yards and one receiving on a 42-yarder from Goff. He became the fourth Lion with more than 1,000 scrimmage yards this season. He joins Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta. “We’ve got a good group, an unselfish group,’’ Goff said.

UP NEXT: Lions (14-2) host the Vikings (14-2) at 8:15 p.m. on Sunday at Ford Field for the NFC North title and the NFC No. 1 seed.

Five reasons the Lions bounced back, dominated the Bears, 34-17

dominating 34-17 win at the Chicago Bears. Turns out that reports that the sky was falling were unfounded.  The win set the franchise record for 13 wins in a season.

With two games remaining, the Lions (13-2) still control their own destiny. Win out — at the 49ers and at home to the Vikings — and they earn the NFC’s No. 1 seed. 

The Lions, who are a perfect 7-0 on the road, were coming off a 48-42 loss to the Buffalo Bills, just their first loss since September which made this game seem that much more important. They haven’t lost back-to-back games since October 2022.

“As I told them, the two most important things to me were I wanted to see us play Detroit football and I wanted to win. That was it, I gave no other stipulations,’’ coach Dan Campbell said.

He has preached resilience since Day One and it has stuck.

“We’ve got a group of guys that we all feel the same way. We don’t go in the tank, we don’t lack confidence, and you know I think just collectively, I gravitate to people who are like me in that manner and between coaches and players, we have a group that is that way,’’ Campbell said. “They’re very resilient and they get aggravated if they lose and want to clean it up.’’

He repeatedly said there is much to work on after the win which he says every week, but he did have a smile on his face. It seemed to get wider when he was informed the Eagles, now 12-3, lost to the Commanders.

“It takes a special group of guys to emotionally and physically and psychologically bounce back after a tough loss especially when you haven’t lost in a while, go out and win on the road again,’’ Campbell said.

 “I told the guys I did know that was a team record, a franchise record 13 wins has never been done. I told them one day we’ll be able to look back and enjoy that, but not yet, it’s not the time. We’ve got our work cut out for us,’’ Campbell added.

It was the ninth straight loss for the Bears who the Lions also beat on Thanksgiving.

Five of the main reasons the Lions beat the Bears:

ONE: The Lions offense got off to a fast start taking a 20-0 early lead and holding a halftime edge of 27-14. They scored on their first five possessions and didn’t punt until there were 5 minutes left in the game. In the previous week’s loss to the Bills, they fell behind early and could not catch up. So a quick start was at the top of the to-do list for a win. Check. 

TWO: With David Montgomery out, RB Jahmyr Gibbs carried the load in the run game which had struggled in the past few weeks. Not on Sunday. Detroit finished with 145 rushing yards and Gibbs had 109 of them, including a rushing touchdown. “That was somewhat his first taste of taking on more of the load,’’ Campbell said. “It was good.” Running the ball was key to taking time off the clock. Gibbs has produced 100-plus scrimmage yards in nine games this season. This is the most by a Lions RB since Barry Sanders in 1997. 

THREE: Wide receiver Jameson Williams’ 82-yard touchdown catch again proved that his speed makes him nearly impossible to stop. Of course, it was an amazing pass by Goff too. Williams got off to a rough start with a taunting penalty in the first quarter. Same thing happened when the Lions beat the Bears on Thanksgiving and Williams apologized to his teammates for the bonehead move. On Sunday, Campbell had a talk with him on the sideline but kept him in the game. He had five catches for 143 yards. “I love where he’s at right now,’’ Campbell said. Goff said his connection with Williams continues to grow. “He’s obviously one of the best deep threats in our league. Even when it’s not perfect, and I think keven those two, last week and this one, wasn’t the perfect look for him to make that play today and finish in the end zone. That’s what he’s capable of and there’ll be more of that, hopefully,’’ Goff said.

FOUR: The Lions defense had not had a takeaway in four games and then they had two in the first half. Bears’ WR Rome Odunze fumbled both times with Josh Paschal recovering the first and Jack Campbell the second. The offense responded with scores on both. Bears QB Caleb Williams found more of a rhythm in the second half, but the Lions defense only allowed one field goal in the second half.

FIVE: Jared Goff can never be overlooked. With the defense playing next-man-up football, much was expected from the offense. Goff delivered. Again. He completed 23 of 32 attempts for 336 yards and three touchdowns. Plus he should be in the running for an Oscar for his fake stumble before connecting with Sam LaPorta for a 21-yard touchdown pass. It was a play they had worked on all last week. Goff has now produced 41-career 300-yard passing games, tying Dan Marino and Matt Ryan for the second-most 300-yard games through nine seasons in NFL history. And Goff is the third QB with a 13-plus win season for multiple franchises in NFL history. He joins Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.

UP NEXT: Lions (13-2)  at 49ers, 8:15 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 30.