Tag: Taylor Decker

Five things to watch as Lions try to snap Thanksgiving losing streak

Bears have lost 5 straight including recent OT loss to Vikings

Thanksgiving Day hasn’t been such a happy occasion for the Lions for the last seven years. Each game has ended in a loss. Gathering around the table afterward hasn’t been so pleasant.

But this version of the Lions, which has won nine straight games, is different from the rest. 

The Lions (10-1)  face the Chicago Bears (4-7) at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday.

For coach Dan Campbell, getting the division win is key and breaking that seven-game losing streak is just gravy.

“I think there’s two things. Number one, get a W, right and it’s a division win that’s why this is huge,’’ Campbell said. “Number two is because the players are going to get a couple of days off. So, they have family, friends in, it’d be nice to feel good about it when you’re with everybody because it’s just not real fun. It’s not real fun to be around. Ask my wife, she’ll tell you. Like that’s why she’s praying for a win big time because she knows that I’m a bear when we don’t win, so we all want it. It is long overdue, but we have to win to win.”

The Bears could come out a little angry after losing to the Vikings, 30-27,  in overtime on Sunday. The week before that they lost to the Packers, 20-19.

Five things to watch:

ONE: The next-man-up standard has worked well for the Lions so far, but is there a tipping point? LT Taylor Decker and CB Carlton Davis III are definitely not going to play. WR Kalif Raymond was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown and RB David Montgomery were also injured Sunday but Campbell expects they will play. He would have a hard time keeping Montgomery, a former Bear, off the field.

TWO: QB Caleb Williams has gone five straight games (all losses) without throwing an interception but he’s only thrown two touchdown passes in that stretch, both against the Vikings defense. Still he’s a mobile quarterback and is the Bears’ second-leading rusher. “What I’ve been impressed with is just how he has grown, he has grown every game but these last two I really feel like he’s taken off and what they’re doing with him has been really good for him and he just looks very composed,’’ Campbell said. “He doesn’t get frazzled, plays pretty fast, and he’s an accurate passer, big arm, and he’s got some guys that can get open for him.”

THREE: The Lions rushing defense will be tested by D’Andre Swift, the former Lions running back. “They’re going to try to run it, get Swift on the perimeter, Swift’s doing a good job, he’s been a good asset for them,’’ Campbell said. 

FOUR: While CB Carlton Davis is out, CB Terrion Arnold, who didn’t play on Sunday, will be active Thursday which could give the secondary a boost. Kindle Vildore struggled last week while replacing him. Caleb Williams has plenty of options including wide receivers D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen, along with rookie tight end Cole Kmet.

FIVE:  Preparing in a short week is tough but it’s the same for both teams. “I would say, if we were playing them for the second time this year it can help. It’s the first time, so there’s some new things, you’re still getting the first time of watching all their tape, so I don’t know if being in-division helps much,’’ quarterback Jared Goff said. “I guess we know their personnel pretty good, they do some similar stuff from last year, but there are some differences, too, that you’ve got to be aware of.”

LIONS INJURY UPDATE: T Taylor Decker (knee) and CB Carlton Davis III (knee, thumb) are out; RB David Montgomery (shoulder) and WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (knee) are questionable.

BEARS INJURY UPDATE: DB Elijah Hicks (ankle) and OL Ryan Bates (concussion) are out.

PREDICTION: Lions 35, Bears 21

Injuries could be issue as Lions look to snap Thanksgiving losing streak

ALLEN PARK — It’s Thanksgiving week which means the Detroit Lions are cramming six days of preparation into three. 

On Thursday they will try to snap a seven-game Thanksgiving losing streak when they face the Chicago Bears (4-7). 

“Nobody likes losing, I don’t want to lose. I don’t want to lose a game, I don’t think any of us do. But it’s more so it’s about a division opponent at home, the next one in front of us, more so than we don’t want to lose the Thanksgiving game,’’ coach Dan Campbell said on Monday. “We don’t want to lose, period.’’

At the same time, winning on Thanksgiving makes dinner a little tastier. That’s something that center Frank Ragnow longs for. He was drafted by the Lions in 2018 and has never won a Thanksgiving game.

“I’d really like to enjoy Thanksgiving. Usually in the past years it’s been like I don’t really want to talk to my family, all upset about everything. I’d really like to enjoy Thanksgiving and put on a show for the crowd,” Ragnow said.

“It’s such a special unique thing to Detroit, and need to capitalize on it and make it as special as it is,” Ragnow said. “I think we’ve all got that in the back of our mind.”

The coach said this week is about rest, recovery and mental work. The team had a walk-through on Monday with another planned on Tuesday.

Injuries could be an issue for Thursday after the Lions were banged up following Sunday’s 24-6 win at Indianapolis.

Campbell said decisions on some of the injured could come down to the wire. He’s most concerned about the availability of LT Taylor Decker (knee), WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (knee), Carlton Davis III (knee, thumb) and WR Kalif Raymond (foot). 

None of them would have practiced on Monday, per the estimated practice report.

RB David Montgomery (shoulder) and DT D.J. Reader (illness) also would not have practiced. 

The good injury news is that CB Terrion Arnold (groin), who didn’t play on Sunday, would have had a full practice.

Five things to watch as Lions face Texans; plus injury reports, prediction

While much has been made of the Detroit Lions’ red-hot offense over eight games, the defense has overcome the loss of eight significant players to injury.

And yet, they keep on fighting and winning key battles.

The next test comes in the nationally televised game on Sunday night when the Lions (7-1) face the Texans (6-3) at Houston.  The Texans coming off a loss to N.J. Jets while Lions rolled over the Packers, 24-14, at Green Bay.

Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn doesn’t usually get much screen time, but in the pouring rain at Green Bay, he just stood and called plays as if it was a sunny day while his glasses were covered in rain drops.

“At one point, and I don’t know – we were in the heat of battle there and I just remember – I said something, ‘AG, we got to be ready for this and wipe your glasses off.’ He’s like, ‘I got you.’ Yeah, that was pretty good. He doesn’t need eyes to coach,’’ Campbell said.

Glenn was just thinking of the next play call and how to put the guys in position to be successful.

“He doesn’t have bad days, he’s not one of these guys. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t get – he can get pissed off, believe me, he’s a fiery guy, but he just doesn’t live like that. Everything is, ‘Hey, you tell me what it is, you tell me what we’ve got and we’re going to make it work and we’re going to make the most of it and we’ll be good,’’’ Campbell said. “And it’s – he’s just positive, upbeat, grinder. I can’t say enough great words about him. Everybody respects him and those guys play – they play hard for him.”

Five things to watch:

ONE: Once again, Jared Goff and offense face another tough defense in the Texans who have the NFL’s second-rated defense. Goff has gone five games without throwing a touchdown and obviously the Lions have won all of them. He’s on a roll that shows no sign of slowing down. He said he does have to filter out some of the noise. “You’re just trying to find a way to stack Ws and I think you get caught up in sometimes not only the bad stuff but the good stuff at times. It can be dangerous,’’ Goff said. “So yeah, you just try to keep stacking wins, people are going to keep telling us how good we are now and then if something were to go wrong, they tell us how bad we are. So, it’s how it goes and just try to keep doing the work, put your head down and go in a hole and keep stacking Ws.”

TWO: Running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs could likely each be a starter on any other team. Halfway through the season and they haven’t  had a bad game yet. It could be because they don’t get tired.”It’’s so hard for a defense when you get a fresh one of them, it seems, every other drive. A lot of these guys that are carrying the ball 25, 30 times, they aren’t fresh the whole game,’’ Goff said. “These guys are coming in the third quarter and they’re fresh. It’s Gibbs then it’s Montgomery, then it’s Gibbs and then it’s back and forth and it’s tough. It’s tough for a defense and I think they kind of get pigeonholed at times like, ‘Gibbs is the fast one, D-Mo is the tough one.’ It’s like no, they both kind of do it all. They both can run away from you, they both can catch the ball, they both can run you over and that’s really hard for any defense.”

THREE: Houston’s C.J. Stroud hasn’t thrown an interception in three straight games but he hasn’t faced the Lions secondary. Safety Kerby Joseph returned an interception for a touchdown in Green Bay, it was his sixth pick of the season. Brian Branch has four. Stroud will present a challenge. “ He’s a big man, he has quick release, he’s effective when he gets outside the pocket of making plays. He’s not a true runner per se, but he can run to create plays,” Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said. “So, the thing that we’ve got to be careful of is, man, these receivers that he has and the running backs that he has, of not allowing him to be able to just dice us up, getting the ball out to these guys, because they can really make some plays..”

FOUR: Za’Darius Smith, who paid Broc Wright to give up No. 99,  could ease his way onto his new team. He’s 32, an NFL veteran, so making a transition shouldn’t be too tough. He’s not a replacement for Aidan Hutchinson but will help against the run and can pass rush. Campbell is confident he will be a good fit. “We’ve got enough people that speak highly of him that I know, players and coaches, and they all say the same thing about him. Team guy, hard worker, tough, loves the game, and then you watch the film, and it backs it up,’’ Campbell said. “So, I can’t imagine that all of those guys would lie to me.”

FIVE:  The Lions have proven themselves to be road warriors by winning all their games away from Ford Field so far. Their only loss was to the Bucs at home. Oddly enough, wining on the road is what could lead to more home playoff games. “If you want to make that happen then you have to win a lot of games and we’re only about halfway there but we’ve done a good job to this point and if we want to find a way to have it come through Detroit, we have to keep winning,’’ Goff said.

LIONS INJURY REPORT: LT Taylor Decker (shoulder), DL Brodric Martin (knee), LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin (neck), S Ifeatu Melifonwu (ankle), CB Emmanuel Moseley (pectoral) and LB Malcolm Rodriguez (ankle) are out; Za’Darius Smith is questionable.

TEXANS INJURY REPORT: DE Will Anderson (ankle) and RB Dameon Pierce (groin) are out; WR Nico Collins (hamstring). WR Tank Dell (back), DT Folorunso Fatukasi (groin/shoulder), LB Jake Hansen (ankle), DE Jerry Hughes (hip) and CB Jeff Okudah (quad) are questionable.

PREDICTION: Lions 35, Texans 28