Tag: Taylor Decker

Controversial ending key to Lions 20-19 loss at the Cowboys

Two-point conversion to Decker negated over official’s questionable call

After a crazy finish, the Detroit Lions came up short, losing to the Cowboys, 20-19, at Dallas on Saturday night.

Down by 7 with 1:41 left, the Lions went 75 yards downfield with no timeouts and scored when Jared Goff connected with Amon-Ra St. Brown. 

Instead of kicking the extra point for the tie, the aggressive Dan Campbell went for 2 points. In the first attempt, left tackle Taylor Decker caught the ball in the endzone, but was penalized for not reporting. Campbell was furious and was yelling at the officials. It was not a reviewable play.

Video shows Decker talking to the official before the play.

“It sucks, I don’t know if I had this feeling before when you feel like you won and you didn’t. With that being said, the next two plays we had a chance at it …” quarterback Jared Goff said. 

“What I do know – and I don’t know if I’ll get fined for this – I do know that Decker reported. I do know that (Dan) Skipper did not and I know they say Skipper did. It’s unfortunate,’’ Goff added.

Decker said the same thing.

“I did exactly what the coach told me to do. I went to the ref and said ‘report.’ It was my understanding too that Dan brings up the possibility of those sorts of plays pre-game (to the officials),’’ Decker said.

Campbell, who doesn’t usually show his emotions after a loss, was visibly upset in the post-game press conference.

“I told the offense with 1:41 left we were going to go down and score and then we’re going to go for 2 and finish this game out. I told them that, that’s what we were doing,’’ Campbell said. “We were going for the win.’’

After the Decker play was negated, on the next try the Cowboys were penalized and then Goff could not connect with tight end James Mitchell.

So the Lions, the NFC North champs, fall to 11-5 and the Cowboys keep their home record perfect at 8-0. 

“In the end we knew it was going to come down to the wire. I thought our defense played really well today minus one play that was in our hands, we were there to make a play and we didn’t. Other than that I thought we did some really really good things …’’ Campbell said.

Five reasons the Lions lost (other than the official’s apparent bad call):

1. Overall the defense played well but midway through the first, Derrick Barnes had quarterback Dak Prescott within reach for a safety, instead Prescott slipped through and connected with CeeDee Lamb for a 92-yard touchdown play. That put the Cowboys up 7-3. The defense had no answer for Lamb who had 227 receiving yards (including that 92-yarder) but they were tough against the run, holding the Cowboys to 61 rushing yards. 

2. Quarterback Jared Goff didn’t have his best night in part because the offensive line also didn’t play at its best. He was pressured often, sacked once and threw two interceptions. He was at his best in the less-than-two minute drive that ended the game. He finished 19 of 34 for 271 yards and a touchdown pass. “We had plenty of opportunities, it never comes down to one play of course. We didn’t play our best on offense throughout most of the game and did towards the end,’’ Goff said. “The second half I thought we played a lot better. We had plenty of chances to score …’’

3. The run game amassed 125 yards, but again didn’t get consistent help from the offensive line. Jahmyr Gibbs had 43 yards on 15 carries while David Montgomer carried 14 times for 656 yards and a touchdown. That double threat will be integral to the Lions in the playoffs. 

F4. Campbell is known for his aggressiveness and that did not change. In the second quarter on fourth-and-goal from the 5-yard line, he went for the touchdown instead of the safe 3 points. The pass to Sam LaPorta for the TD was incomplete. In that same drive, Campbell called a fake punt that had Jalen Reeves-Maybin pass to Khalil Dorsey for 31 yards and  the first down. The Lions were 2 of 3 on fourth downs.

5. In the big picture, the defense looked playoff worthy, but the offense (while it was able to come back at the very end and almost win it) has some work to do. 

UP NEXT: Minnesota Vikings at Lions on either Saturday, Jan. 6 or Sunday, Jan. 7 at Ford Field. The schedule will be announced on Sunday.

Five things to watch as Lions face Packers at Lambeau; plus, prediction

ALLEN PARK — For years it was mostly misery when the Lions played the Packers at Lambeau Field. That changed last season. The Lions have won three straight against the Packers.       

It’s hard to forget the season-ending Lions’ 20-16 win in Green Bay which knocked the Packers out of the playoffs. Earlier on that Sunday, the Lions playoff hopes had been wrecked.

With that huge nationally televised victory, the Lions went into the offseason on a positive note

“It’s a good win on the road, a division opponent. If you can’t get in, that’s the way you’ve got to end it. You win some games, you find a little bit of a flow, it’s always good to win on the road especially in this division,’’ coach Dan Campbell said on Tuesday. “That’s the extent of it now it’s a new season, we know we can win out there. We’ve done it before but you’ve got to go earn it.’’

In a battle for the lead in the NFC North, both teams go into Thursday night’s game with 2-1 records.

It’s a short turnaround from Sunday to Thursday but, like Campbell said, the Packers are going through the same thing so it’s a level playing field.

Five things to watch:

1. Keep the pass rush working like it did against the Falcons. Don’t expect seven sacks every week, but must get pressure on quarterback Jordan Love. He is not Aaron Rodgers but he’s played well enough to get two wins so far. He’s mobile and has the second-most rushing yards on the team. Love has completed just 53.1 percent of his passes (compared to 69.9 percent for Jared Goff) but has thrown seven touchdowns against just one interception. “I think when everybody’s just doing their part and we’re staying disciplined to our responsibility, then everybody gets to eat,’’ Campbell said. “If we don’t do that and we’re not all totally in tune, it can make it hard. I’d like to believe it is sustainable.’’

2. Shut down the run again. Atlanta, which had averaged 170.5 rushing yards per game in its first two games, was held to 44. While the Packers average just 90.3 rushing yards per game. AJ Dillon and Aaron Jones (if he’s active) must be stopped.

3. If running back David Montgomery (thigh) can’t go, expect more from Jahmyr Gibbs who looked like he was finding his rhythm in the fourth quarter on Sunday. He had four runs for 41 yards in the winning touchdown drive. Gibbs said he’s always confident in running between the tackles (or anywhere) but he looked like he was in more of a groove in the fourth quarter. It’s easy to forget he’s a rookie.

4. The only thing Goff needs to work on is his vertical jump so as not to embarrass himself if he tries the Lambeau Leap like he did last week at Ford Field. Goff has a few hitches in his giddyup but not many. He said the interception he threw last week was his worst pass of his career so don’t expect we’ll see that again. He has formed quite a bond with rookie tight end Sam LaPorta who has 18 catches for 186 yards in three games. He’s second in receptions and yardage behind the consistently consistent Amon-Ra St. Brown. 

5. Improving the third-down conversion rate might not be a the top of Dan Campbell’s list but it’s somewhere on it. The Lions offense is converting just 37.5 percent of third downs. They’re almost as effective at fourth downs converting 2 of 6 (33.3 percent).

PREDICTION: Lions 31, Packers 21. Could be a close one but give the Lions an edge due to their defensive play against the Falcons.

Lions Sam LaPorta, Brian Branch up for NFL rookie of week honors

Decker, Montgomery trending to play in Green Bay

ALLEN PARK — Detroit Lions cornerback Brian Branch and tight end Sam LaPorta are among the six NFL rookies up for Rookie of the Week honors for Week 3. Both have been standouts in the first three games of their Lions’ careers.

On Sunday, LaPorta scored his first touchdown on a 45-yard pass from Jared Goff. It was one of his eight receptions for 84 yards. LaPorta was a second-round pick out of Iowa.

Branch led the defense with 11 tackles, he also had two pass defenses and three tackles for loss.

Both rookies were second-round picks. LaPorta (Iowa) at 34th overall and Branch (Alabama) at 45th overall.

“What we saw in college was, a few of the things that really caught our eye, it’s one thing to see the production in college but to know they’re very instinctive aware players,’’ coach Dan Campbell said on Tuesday. “They’re smart and they play fast. What you saw in college is what you’re starting to see here. Their instincts are there. They work extremely hard and I would say they’re both becoming pretty dependable pretty quickly.’’

They both make occasional rookie errors but Campbell said they’re growing extremely fast.

“They’re both guys who don’t make the same mistake twice. When you’re talking about rookies who can grow and develop quickly that’s what they all have in common,’’ the coach added.

While they’re getting acclaim this week, running back Jahmyr Gibbs and linebacker Jack Campbell have also played well.

Others in the running for rookie of the week are Denver WR Marvin Mims, Miami RB DeVon Achane, Houston QB C.J. Stroud and Houston WR Tank Dell.

Votes can be cast at NFL.com/voting/rookies.

INJURY UPDATE

Left tackle Taylor Decker, who has missed two games, and running back David Montgomery, who sat out one, are trending in the right direction to play on Thursday at Green Bay according to Campbell on Tuesday.

Safety Kerby Joseph is still “wait and see” while cornerback Emmanuel Moseley, who has not played yet this season, will probably have to wait since the Lions weren’t practicing this week (just walk-throughs) due to the short turnaround time.