The Detroit Lions’ 27-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 1 has already sparked a lot of conversation about what went wrong, and head coach Dan Campbell isn’t dodging those questions. Speaking Tuesday morning on 97.1 The Ticket, Campbell admitted there are areas his team must clean up quickly, starting with one simple thing.
“Communication. Communication. Communication.”
When asked what the Lions need to improve most after Sunday’s performance, Campbell didn’t hesitate.
“Communication. Communication. Communication. It’s that simple,” Campbell said as quoted by Pride of Detroit.
That breakdown was most visible along the offensive line, where missed assignments piled up and Jared Goff often looked uncomfortable in the pocket. For a team that prides itself on trench play, that’s a red flag.
Could the Preseason Have Helped?
One of the big questions that followed Detroit’s sloppy opener: should the Lions have played their younger guards, Christian Mahogany and Tate Ratledge, more in preseason games? Campbell admitted that maybe they should have.
“With those two guys, yeah, we could’ve played them a little bit more (in the preseason),” Campbell said. “But, there again, you’re not playing against their starters. That’s why I like the joint practices. Now, just to get in the flow of the game? Yeah, probably. It’s not like more reps is going to hurt them. It’s going to help them. So, yeah, certainly, we could’ve played them a little bit more.”
That’s about as close as Campbell will get to admitting a misstep. It’s fair to wonder if more snaps in August would’ve sped up the communication and chemistry process once the real games started.
Growing Pains and Moving Forward
Despite the Week 1 letdown, Campbell isn’t panicking. He believes the offensive line, and the team as a whole, will settle in with more live reps.
“That just takes time. It takes time, live reps, real bullets, on the road, can’t hear. All of that to where, man, you’re working in unison together, and you’re starting to figure each other out in real football games,” Campbell said. “So it’ll take a little bit, but we’re going to get there, man. These guys will grow, and as bad as it hurts, you’re only going to grow from this. There’s nowhere to go but up, and these guys are going to get better. There’s going to be banked reps here now, and we’ve just got to find a way to win, and develop and grow at the same time.”
Eyes on the Bears
The Lions return home this week for a matchup against the Chicago Bears, led by former Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. While there’s a storyline there, Campbell brushed it aside, reminding everyone that the real challenge is internal.
“It’s about what you do,” Campbell said. “When you come out of games like both of us just did, let’s just get back to what we do, what they do, and find a way to move the football, stop it on defense, and then come out on the other side better than you were.”
After a week full of questions, Campbell made it clear: the Lions aren’t overthinking things. They just need to settle in, communicate, and get back to playing their brand of football.
One Response
Well, my take on it was there wasn’t one aspect of their entire game that was on par, except for special teams. Specifically, the kicking game. It’s easy to say you have to clean things up. But when practically every aspect of your game was pretty dismal, it’s a huge undertaking.
Offensive line was terrible which contributed to the poor running game which contributed to the poor passing game.
The defensive line played on their heels the whole game. They were lucky they weren’t completely embarrassed by a huge blow out.
Now, coaching is a mind game. Who expected Dan Campbell to come out and say we got our asses handed to us bc we played like crap? Nobody! And how many people felt that was a true statement? Everybody!
Grit is what this team touts. We will see if they have that come next week.
Hopefully, we haven’t reverted back to the S.O.L.