GREEN BAY, Wis. — After falling in apart in the second half…
After watching Aaron Rogers realize that he’s Aaron Freakin’ Rogers…
After this weak Detroit Lions defense started to fall apart and the injuries mounted and a coach turned and said, “Hey you, the one healthy guy, go play corner.”
After Jared Goff started turning the ball over…
Lions coach Dan Campbell stepped to a podium Monday night and summed up a half-century of Lions futility with two words.
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“Crap happened,” Campbell said, after the Green Bay Packers beat the Lions, 35-17. “And it’s on us and you know, they didn’t have those errors. They didn’t have the fumbles. We did and that’s on us.”
Yes, crap happened.
Same as it ever was.
On this night, it was a failed fourth-down gamble here; a fumble there.
An interception here; a blown chance there.
“We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot in the second half,” Lions quarterback Jared Goff said.
As if you’ve never heard a Lion say that before.
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Even the nice start wasn’t perfect
Yes, a collapse like Monday’s feels inevitable whenever you play against Rogers.
And it looked familiar — especially how it started to unravel.
Locked in a 7-7 first quarter battle, the Lions were gaining some momentum on their second possession, mixing tough-nosed runs and short passes, Then they suddenly looked like the Lions of the last 50 years or so, as they started to implode.
False start by T.J. Hockenson.
A holding by Penei Sewell.
An intentional grounding by Goff, which was debatable considering he was hit while throwing.
And another false start.
It felt predictable.
Pull out foot, start shooting away.
But then, something encouraging happened. The mistakes disappeared, at least for the rest of the first half. And the Lions held a 17-14 halftime lead.
If you ask me, that’s Campbell’s influence. How he is changing this team.
But he’s not a miracle worker. He can’t play defense. He can’t stop Rogers by himself.
And the second half happened.
Or as Campbell so eloquently put it: Crap happened.
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Improvement, but ‘not enough’
Nobody expected the Lions to go into Green Bay and beat the Packers. And nobody expects this team to win many games this season. Not if you are completely sober.
So it is more important to focus on the parts, not the whole.
“There little things that we got to clean up,” Campbell said. “But there’s also things that I that I’m encouraged by. There are some players that I’m encouraged by. Bobby Price encouraged me.”
Price finished with three tackles.
“The offensive line encouraged me,” Campbell said.
True enough, the line was fantastic, protecting Jared Goff and opening up holes. The Lions rushed for 108 yards, averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
“Swifty, he encouraged me,” Campbell said, of D’Andre Swift, who ran eight times for 37 yards and caught four passes for another 41.
Yes, that means we would all like to see even more of Swift.
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“I see improvement in areas, but certainly not enough,” Campbell said. “I mean, you play a team like this, you can’t have the mistakes that we had. So yeah, we still we got to clean some of this stuff up.”
Campbell attributed much of that to the offense because it made too many mistakes and couldn’t keep up with Rogers in a shootout.
“I put this on our offense offensively,” Campbell said. “We have to be able to outscore a team like this. That’s just how I see it.”
Personally, I don’t think it’s fair.
The offense just doesn’t have enough playmakers, especially on the outside, to beat Green Bay in a shootout.
But on the other hand, I like the mindset.
Campbell is trying to create a winning culture.
He is trying to set the bar, even if it’s unrealistic right now.
“We’re not allowed to make mistakes or have turnovers because you can’t,” Campbell said.
Because the defense is so bad.
“I’m not a negative person,” Campbell said. “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 gonna fix our mess because we put ourselves in this mess. So that’s what I’m looking for. So I think we’re gonna be just fine.”
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That’s the two ways you can view this game, if not this team.
One: Crap happened.
Two: We’re gonna fix our mess.
The first phrase sums up the history of this franchise.
The latter captures Campbell’s philosophy, being upbeat while realistic about the problems. This team has showed slivers of improvement.
But for the most part, it’s still in the same place: Crap happened.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.