The Lions have been in this exact situation before, and not that long ago, here’s how they got out of it
I know that Sunday night’s Detroit Lions loss to the Packers felt like something you haven’t experienced in a long time. I also know that everything you’ve maybe read or listened to since the game has told you this is just unprecedented in the Dan Campbell era. But it’s just not true. I want you […]
I know that Sunday night’s Detroit Lions loss to the Packers felt like something you haven’t experienced in a long time. I also know that everything you’ve maybe read or listened to since the game has told you this is just unprecedented in the Dan Campbell era. But it’s just not true.
I want you to think and think really hard. Think about a time when the Lions just couldn’t get anything done in the red zone. Think about a time when they couldn’t run the ball, and Jared Goff had to pass the ball 30-plus times. Think about a time when the Lions allowed a lot of pressure on Goff. Think about a time when the Lions’ OC was probably a little too in his head. Not ringing a bell? Here, I’ll put it in big bold letters.
The Packers’ loss is pretty much the same thing as last year’s loss to the Buccaneers
Seriously, think about it. The Lions went into that Week 2 game last year and struggled a lot. We’ll start in the red zone, where they went 1-7 in that game. Not scoring tends to make you think that the Lions’ offense just couldn’t do anything. Just like Sunday against the Packers, the Lions kept getting into scoring position, but they just couldn’t do anything once they got there.
The Lions’ run game situation in this one was fairly different, but there’s some important nuance to consider. Ben Johnson was weird in this game and almost purposely strayed away from the run game. Goff threw the ball 55 times in this game. Obviously, a little more than the 39 times Goff threw the ball in this game.
The thing is that the run game was working in that game against the Bucs. It was also a litte more of a competitive game, so the Lions didn’t have to abandon the run game early. Still, Johnson just strayed away from it due to what happened against the Bucs’ stout defensive line in the 2023 playoffs. The thing that connects here is that Morton did not coach a good game in this one.
There was an overemphasis on the Lions trying to get those deep shots in, and it just wound up with Detroit checking down over and over again.
So how did the Lions get out of this? They didn’t do a lot more than what they’re planning to do against the Bears. Everything about Sunday’s game is pretty fixable. The Lions simply had a better showing in the red zone and simplified the game plan on offense. Something Campbell already alluded to.
“We had a lot of MAs (missed assignments) and so that tells me that we had too much on their plate, which that’s my fault. So, that was really the story.”
If the Lions can do that plus these three pretty simple things that Campbell laid out below, they’re going to beat the Bears on Sunday.
Detroit Lions News
Dan Campbell has a pretty easy checklist for the Lions to follow in their game against the Bears on Sunday
The Detroit Lions had a lot of mistakes on Sunday, and it’s easy to see things get washed together to a point where you feel like the Lions are just doomed, and it’s all going down from here. In reality, the Lions could have won on Sunday, and it was more the little things that […]
