San Francisco 49ers – Page 5

Lions coach Dan Campbell to take season one step at a time

With the San Francisco 49ers on tap in the opener on Sunday coach Dan Campbell is clearly focused on the task at hand which is beating the 49ers. Doesn’t matter that the Lions are 8-point underdogs at home.

With the second-youngest NFL team, a new coach and GM at the helm, not much is expected of the Lions this season. Campbell knows that, he isn’t an idiot.

When asked if he plays the “prove people wrong” card he said it’s part of the team’s DNA.

“I don’t think it’s any secret that nobody expects us to do much. So, yeah, that’s part of us, but that’s just lip service. What the hell does that mean? It doesn’t mean anything if we don’t go out and do our job. If I don’t do my job, it doesn’t matter that you think that we’re better than somebody else or we should be thought of as better than that,’’ Campbell said on Monday.

“Yeah, we know that and that drives you a little bit, but man, the focus has got to be on doing your freakin’ job, every one of us. Coaches, players, ‘You’ve got a job to do and let’s go do it, man.’ And you focus on that and give it your full attention and don’t worry about anything else. I think that’s got to be what we’re focused on.”

In his first season as a head coach, the way Campbell motivates his team could make some difference. Not say if he’s Super Motivator they will be playoff-bound, but each player needs to show he is worthy of his job. It might be easier to motivate now with a 0-0 record than down the road if there’s a win-loss ratio of let’s say 3-10.

“I think the focus has got to be – look, the motivation is one thing. It’s got to be about just taking a swing one more time. Like, ‘What is right in front of you? Just worry about what’s right in front of you right now,’’ Campbell said.

First players have to worry about having a good practice each day.

“Everything has got to be about, ‘You have to do what’s right in front of you. What is the next rep that you have?’ If I’m on offense, we might have 60 plays. We can’t call 60 plays on one play. We can only call one at a time. So, ‘Just focus on that call and what your job is for that look and then take it to the next week,’’ Campbell said.

“Who’s the next opponent? That’s the next one. Don’t worry about what’s beyond that. Yeah, we’ve got Green Bay in two weeks after that. Don’t worry about Green Bay. We’ve got to worry about San Francisco.’ I think if we can just stay focused and centered on what the job is at hand right in front of us and giving it our sole focus and energy, I think that will go a long way for us,’’ the coach added.

Five things to know about the Lions’ big upset win over the Patriots

Lions dominate, grab first win this season

DETROIT – With a 26-10 win over the Patriots on Sunday night, the Lions pulled out their biggest win at Ford Field in a very long time.

Give the Lions players and coaches credit that after the 0-2 start to the season, they didn’t cave in, didn’t give up, they just kept on working getting ready to face their toughest opponent yet.

In fact, afterward coach Matt Patricia said the makings of the win started with a good week of practice.

“You go through the spring, you go through training camp, you go through preseason games. You go from the transition from preseason to regular season and just trying to get in-sync and get into a rhythm. All that helps,’’ Patricia said. “But honestly just give credit to the players. They did a great job this week in coming out and preparing and went out and executed at a high level.”

In the locker room afterward, the players gave the team ball to Patricia for his first NFL win as a head coach. Yet at the podium minutes later he kept tossing bouquets to the players.

In the second half, Lions fans were on the edge of their seats. Over the years, they had seen likely wins turn into losses. Different coaches, different players but many of the same results and excuses.

There were no excuses necessary on Sunday night.

“We did a good job of staying out of our own way,’’ said Marvin Jones Jr., who had four catches for 69 yards including a 33-yard touchdown reception.

Five things to note about the win:

1. Matthew Stafford was back. The quarterback’s play in the first six quarters of the season was head-scratchingly awful. He started improving in the second half at San Francisco a week ago and it continued through all four quarters on Sunday. Stafford was 27 of 36 for 262 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and a 101.9 rating. “It was a total team win, we have a lot to get better at, I can’t turn the ball over to start the third. That was a bad play by me but our guys are resilient and we battled and made some plays,’’ Stafford said.

2. The 33-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Jones in the third quarter gave the Lions a 20-10 cushion. The timing couldn’t have been better. Those points allowed the Lions’ offense to maintain a mix of run and pass. Jones wasn’t even Stafford’s first option on that call. “He was running, he was open. (He was) not really my No. 1, he came around the corner and he flashed to me,’’ Stafford said. “Man, he ran away from a really good player (cornerback Stephon Gilmore), I’m just glad out there pretty close to in stride, you can figure that out later and tell me if it was good enough for you guys.’’ That was a kindly dig at the media who criticized Stafford for not connecting with his deep receivers last week at the 49ers.

3. The Lions ran the ball for 159 yards (this is not a misprint), but the biggest news is that Kerryon Johnson became the first Lions 100-yard rusher in a game since Reggie Bush did so on Nov. 28, 2013. Johnson, the rookie, had 16 carries for 101 yards averaging 6.3 yards per carry. LeGarrette Blount, a former Patriot, had 16 carries for 48 yards. “I think all of our backs played well. Theo (Riddick) in pass game did a nice job a couple times. Kerryon was really good running the ball. I thought LeGarrette was good running the ball,’’ Stafford said. “A ton of credit to our guys up front, man, that’s a defense that does not want you to run the football on them. We did it and I was happy to be a part of it.’’

4. The defense, playing without Ziggy Ansah and his wonky shoulder, forced the Patriots into three-and-outs on their first three possessions. The mighty Pats were held to 209 total yards — just 70 of them in the first half. Tom Brady’s numbers were pedestrian at best — 14 of 26, one touchdown, one interception and a 65.1 rating. LInebacker Eli Harold sacked Brady twice. Darius Slay came up with the huge interception on a second-and-8 play in the third quarter.

5. It was a win that could set the tone for the rest of the season. The Lions are now 1-2 and they have their problems but they now should have a good dose of confidence after beating the Patriots, a perennially elite bunch. “It was a total team win, we have a lot to get better at, I can’t turn the ball over to start the third. That was a bad play by me but our guys are resilient and we battled and made some plays,’’ Stafford said. “We’re a tough group, mentally tough. We have plenty of bad plays, bad throws, bad outcomes to a play, whatever it is. we’ve had them. We’re a tough group, we believe in each other, believe in what we’re doing.’’ Next up, at the Dallas Cowboys (1-2) on Sunday.

Five things to know about Lions’ 30-27 loss to the San Francisco 49ers

Lions now 0-2, welcome Patriots on Sunday night

The Lions made it interesting in the waning minutes, but had fallen too far behind to catch up. Detroit fell to 0-2 in Matt Patricia’s inaugural season with a 30-27 loss at the San Francisco 49ers.

New coach, many of the same old problems — missed tackles, run game inefficiencies and too many penalties.

(Photo courtesy of Detroit Lions)

On top of that all, Matthew Stafford’s game was not spot-on. Again. He missed Marv Jones Jr., deep on three long attempts and Golden Tate on another. Those are passes that should be automatic.

Here are five things to know about the loss:

1. Stafford played better than he did in the opening loss to the Jets, but still didn’t look himself. He did not throw an interception but lost a fumble and couldn’t connect at key times. It was not all on him. It looked like Theo Riddick dropped a fourth-and-2 pass with seconds left while the Lions were trying to get in field goal position for Matt Prater. Stafford had injured his calf in the Monday night game but was not on the injury report all week. He was sacked twice on Sunday and pressured often. He shouldered the blame for the loss to the Jets, saying he had to play better. He did, but it wasn’t enough. Stafford was 34 of 53 for 347 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

2. The Lions defense gave up to many chunk yardage plays while the Detroit offense had trouble running or passing against the 49ers for big chunk yardage. Golden Tate caught a 67-yard pass late in the game. Kenny Golladay’s touchdown was from 30 yards out. The longest run was for 21 yards by Kerryon Johnson.

3. The Lions’ run game looked less anemic than on Monday night, finishing with 98 yards rushing compared to 39 in loss to Jets. Johnson led with eight catches for 43 yards (5.4 yards per run) while LeGarrette Blount averaged 4.8 yards per carry (eight carries, 38 yards). This offense is not meant to operate at a 50-50 run-pass ratio, but they have to be able to run the ball. And, actually, as Chris Spielman explained it — throwing the ball would open up the run.

4. The defense — playing without the injured Ziggy Ansah — sacked Jimmy Garoppolo six times for losses of 50 yards. But he was able to complete 69.2 percent of his passes, including a pair of touchdown tosses. The Lions’ defense struggled big-time stopping the run. They allowed 190 rushing yards with Matt Breida marking career highs with 138 rushing yards and a 66-yard rushing touchdown. This was an issue on Monday night when they allowed the Jets to rush for 169 yards. It was a concern, but obviously it was not fixed.

5. Penalties were killers. Jamal Agnew’s fourth-quarter 73-yard kickoff return for a touchdown was negated when flags were thrown for blocks in the back by two Lions. Detroit was called for 10 penalties costing them 105 yards and likely the ball game. Veteran running back LeGarrette Blount was kicked out of the game in the fourth quarter, when he came off the bench when Elijah Lee knocked Stafford out of bounds and no penalty was called. Blount shoved Lee and was ejected. Stafford’s wife Kelly had something to say about Blount’s ejection on Instagram: “I don’t care. I love Blount for that sh–.” She’s right, it did show passion, something the Lions were missing on Monday night.

NEXT UP: The Lions (0-2) play the New England Patriots (1-1) on Sunday night at Ford Field. The Patriots lost to the Jaguars, 31-20, on Sunday.