Dan Campbell put Monday night’s loss to the Green Bay Packers squarely on the Detroit Lions offense, which if you think about it is both illogical and right on point.
The Lions ranked last in the NFL in scoring and total defense last season and they’re 31st in points allowed through two weeks this year. They’ve surrendered at least 30 points in eight straight games dating back to last season. And on Monday, the Packers scored touchdowns on five of their first six non-kneel-down possessions of the game.
Defensively, the Lions are borderline atrocious, which is really the reason why Campbell was so critical of his offense.
In order to compete with teams like the Packers, San Francisco 49ers and this week’s opponent, the Baltimore Ravens, the Lions need their offense to carry them and not give possessions away.
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“Defensively we’re going to improve and we did improve in small areas,” Campbell said Monday. “But I put this on our offense. Offensively we have to be able to outscore a team like this. That’s just how I see it. Because why? Because it turned into that type of game again, that’s why. And so to me, the onus is on your offense.”
Campbell said the Lions “are not allowed to make mistakes or have turnovers, because we can’t rebound from those.”
That’s a tough way to live in the NFL, but it’s the truth.
The Lions built their offense with a veteran quarterback, behind a solid offensive line, with the makings of a good running game, to be that kind of team. They don’t have a single dominant defensive player and don’t have enough explosive offensive weapons to win shootouts every week. But if they can run the ball, chew up clock and keep things close, they should be able to steal a few wins.
“It makes (things) a little more difficult, it does,” Campbell said. “But it’s very possible. It’s very possible. You just don’t want to get in a world where once again we had to throw it 40 times. That’s not who we are. … We don’t function best that way, so we’ve got to stay ahead of it and we’re not allowed to make those mistakes.”
On the few possessions the Lions played mistake-free football Monday, they looked like a viable contender in the mediocre NFC North.
They scored on three of their four first-half possessions, and the one they didn’t was marred by four penalties and a broken pass play.
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The Lions went to the locker room clinging to a 17-14 lead, then took the lug nuts off their wheels and forgot to put them back on for the second half.
Among the most glaring mistakes: A failed fourth-and-1 conversion that was some combination of a bad read by quarterback Jared Goff, a bad play call by offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn, or perhaps a bad gamble by Campbell; a fumbled snap on their next offensive play; another Goff fumble on third down that the Lions recovered for a 10-yard loss; and finally an interception that was moderately excusable with Goff trying desperately to make something happen while down 18 points.
Goff’s role in the meltdown cannot be overlooked given the turnover issues that plagued him last year and contributed to his fallout with the Los Angeles Rams. Goff had 10 turnovers in one four-game span last November and 11 in L.A.’s six regular season losses last year (compared to six in their nine wins; he did not play in one game).
That kind of ball security — Goff has three turnovers in two games this season — is unsustainable for the Lions given the other shortcomings on their roster, and for Goff if he wants to be the long-term quarterback solution in Detroit.
Three years ago, Goff was part of a team in L.A. that could legitimately outscore most opponents, and in some ways, that took the pressure off him as a young quarterback.
Now, the Lions have not just an offense but a team that leans on his tendencies as a game manager, and when he struggles in that regard it leaves everyone in a lurch.
Campbell, for his part, insisted the Lions do have the requisite personnel to win shootouts, a motion Goff was quick to second.
“I think we got guys with ability on the outside and we pass block and we run block with anybody in the league. And I like to think I can make throws with anybody in the league,” he said. “So it’s all there for us. And we’ve shown flashes of it, like I said last week. It just needs to happen more often. And that’s with everybody, myself included. We’re there. We have the players, we have the plays, we just need to be on the same page a little bit more and just continue to get better and continue to stay consistent I think is the main thing.”
Without that, the Lions don’t stand a chance.
A few more housekeeping items as the Lions get ready for the Ravens on a short week:
• I don’t understand the consternation about the Lions’ 0-2 start. Sure, they played a good final few minutes against a depleted 49ers team to turn their blowout of a Week 1 loss into a respectable final score. But is anyone really surprised that the young Lions, with one of the thinnest rosters in the league, can’t put two good halves together against superior teams?
The Lions are in the budding stages of a very big rebuild that might not yield fruit until 2023. They have some good things going for them — T.J. Hockenson, D’Andre Swift, that offensive line — but it’s going to take patience to get there.
• In that regard, Campbell was asked Monday what he’s doing to make sure his team doesn’t fall into that “Same Old Lions” woe-is-me trap. I don’t get the sense that’s an issue right now, and I doubt Campbell does, either, but perhaps knowing what’s ahead, he gave his team a warning anyway.
“I just told them I don’t want to see that (expletive) shit,” Campbell said. “I’m not that type of person. I’m not a negative person. I’m all about going to work. I want guys that are resilient, that are willing to go back to work. They love ball, they’re going to clean up their mistakes and those are the guys I’m looking for, man. I’m not a sulker, I’m not a guy who — like, you’re not going to get me down, and those are the type of people I want around me. I want guys that are looking for solutions. We’re going to fix our mess, because we put ourselves in this mess, so that’s what I’m looking for.”
• If you’re a fan of great football players, you should make plans to attend Sunday’s Lions-Ravens game.
Electric Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson will make his first of what likely will be a very select few appearances at Ford Field. Because of the NFL’s scheduling model, Jackson, the 2019 NFL MVP, is not scheduled to play in Detroit again until 2029.
That could change, based on the new 17-game schedule, but Jackson is one of the few unique talents (along with Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady and a handful of others) who is worth the price of admission to an NFL game.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.