INDIANAPOLIS — It may be “just a preseason game” to some, but not Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell.
The Lions snapped the NFL’s longest preseason losing streak Saturday, beating the Indianapolis Colts, 27-26, in a win Campbell called “a step in the right direction” for his team.
“It’s important. It’s very important,” Campbell said. “And especially with a young team and just where we’ve been, where we’re coming from and where we began to go at the end of the season. Man, it’s got to be part of our DNA, it’s got to become part of who we are and we have to embrace every moment and treat it like it’s your last moment. Because if you don’t and you just kind of accept it, then you’ll just be average or above average and that’s not good enough in this league.”
With both teams sitting the bulk of their starters after conducting joint practices this week, the Lions ran for 174 yards on 33 carries Saturday and Tim Boyle led an 18-play, 85-yard drive late that covered most of the fourth quarter for the go-ahead touchdown.
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The Colts answered with an 11-play, 72-yard touchdown drive, but third-string quarterback Jack Coan threw incomplete on the potential game-winning two-point conversion with 38 seconds left and Tom Kennedy recovered the ensuing onside kick to preserve the Lions’ first preseason victory since an Aug. 24, 2018, win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Lions had lost nine straight preseason games before Saturday, including 27-23 to the Atlanta Falcons last week. They went 0-3 in the preseason last year, 0-4 in exhibition play in 2019 and lost their final game of the 2018 preseason.
The 2020 preseason was canceled due to COVID-19.
“(Coach) was referencing a bunch of different stuff (in his postgame speech), no matter what you’re playing, dominoes, spades, whatever, it just feels good to win,” Kennedy said. “And I think as a group, as a team, we got to learn that feeling and feel how that feels, so I’m glad we got this one. Obviously, we wish we had the one back last week, but it was great to get this one today.”
The Lions squandered a late lead last week against the Falcons, when David Blough fumbled a shotgun snap with 2 minutes to play and a chance to run out the clock.
Jared Bernhardt beat undrafted rookie cornerback Cedric Boswell for the game-winning touchdown five plays later.
Boswell gave up the Colts’ final touchdown Saturday, two plays after the Lions allowed a third-and-7 conversion, but John Cominsky forced Coan out of the pocket on his two-point attempt and the quarterback’s throw bounced harmlessly in the end zone.
Campbell said he was pleased with the resilience his defense showed after Coan’s late touchdown, and said he felt his team “got better these two days and I thought we got better today, so this has been a good week for us.”
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“(Winning is) what we want to be about,” Blough said. “It doesn’t matter where we play you, when we play you, we want to win. And preseason obviously, at least last week we felt like we had one in our hands and tonight was different because we capitalized on our opportunities and winning is important. And it starts, I know it’s preseason, but you’ve got to win. If you want to be a winner, you’ve got to win. And so it’s all the way through. That’s what Dan’s trying to instill in us and a lot of young guys, players, made great plays to allow that to happen.”
Blough started Saturday, and Campbell said both he and Boyle made favorable impressions in their bid to be Jared Goff’s backup at quarterback.
Blough completed 16 of 22 passes for 76 yards with one touchdown and one interception, while Boyle was 12 of 15 passing for 99 yards and one TD.
The Lions also got good play from running backs Craig Reynolds (seven carries, 37 yards) and Justin Jackson (7-54), Kennedy (two touchdown catches) and defensive players Cominsky (six tackles, one sack), Austin Bryant (one sack) and Derrick Barnes (three tackles) in their battles for roster spots and/or starting jobs.
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Sam Ehlinger completed 9 of 11 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns in backup duty for the Colts. He threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Dezmon Patton on a busted play when Campbell said the Lions had a miscommunication in their secondary.
The Lions close the preseason next Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, when Goff and most of the rest of the starters are expected to sit again in advance of the Sept. 11 season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.
“I think there’s culture that is built with (winning),” Blough said. “You can say what you want, maybe it’s our twos against their twos, but if we’re scoring more points than they are, maybe we’re a step ahead there and that’s depth at some point in the fall where everybody’s going to play. So yeah, I think it matters.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.