ALLEN PARK -- Dan Campbell did what he always does after the Detroit Lions struggle or experience a tough loss: he shouldered the blame.
The Lions coach said the coaching wasn’t good enough, and based on all the missed assignments and mental lapses, he put too much on the team’s plate heading into their 27-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Campbell added that the problems the Lions have to fix after their dud of a showing are simple to diagnose, but there is nothing easy about it.
“We had a lot of things where just fundamentally, man, we were off,” Campbell said, “And so the only way you do it, you just got to go back to work, you know, and work those things.
“We just didn’t have enough good performances, and really, we didn’t coach well enough, you know, and that obviously starts with me. We had a lot of MAs (missed assignments), so that tells me that we had too much on their plate. That’s my fault. So, that was really the story.”
And for those wondering where the creativity, deep shots and razzle dazzle went with the offense, Campbell said they have to master the “bread and butter before getting to the other stuff.”
When asked if some of those mistakes and putting too much on their plate were due to the youth movement on the offensive line, Campbell agreed it played a part in the sloppy showing. There were communication issues resulting in missed assignments and mental errors in the trenches, with the Lions forced into some silent counts to combat Lambeau Field’s noise.
Rookie offensive lineman Tate Ratledge and second-year guard Christian Mahogany struggled mightily in pass protection. Mahogany was credited with allowing two sacks and four pressures, while Ratledge got hit for giving up one sack and three pressures. And it wasn’t much better on the ground, with the Lions rushing 22 times for only 46 yards.
NFL Next Gen Stats had the Lions getting hit in the backfield on 22 of those rush attempts, which is about as bad a day at the office as imaginable.
“I certainly didn’t go in and think it would be the best performance they would have all year, but it wasn’t good enough,” Campbell said. “The good news is there’s nowhere to go but up, and up we will go, and they’ll only get better with banked reps.
“We just a couple of times, it’s like one guy doesn’t hear the ‘Kill,’ or the ‘Check,’ but everybody else gets it, so really there’s no excuse for that. I think it starts there, but then when you say, ‘OK man, we’ve got to make sure that we are as loud as possible passing it down, and everybody’s got to get it. We’ve got to make sure everybody gets it, so everybody’s screaming at the top of your lungs.’ That’s how you help that.”
Taylor Decker mentioned some of the communication issues after the game, as well. Decker added that, of course, the communication is going to need a minute to reach the levels it’s been at the last couple of years, with two new guards and Graham Glasgow shifting back to center.
He also added that he believes it will come with time, and the more they all share the field together. But it will be interesting to see how Campbell adjusts heading into Week 2 after saying he felt he put too much on the team’s plate and younger pieces ahead of the ugly opener.
“Because I think things take time, and you don’t know. Is that going to come in a day? Is it going to come in two days, a week, one game, two games?“ Campbell said. ”All I know is it’ll come and it just takes a minute with real bullets, full speed, real opponents, working together and then you find your groove, you find your rhythm.
“So, all I’m concerned about, honestly, is I just want to get better from last week. I want to get significantly better from last week. I want to cut our MAs in half. I want to be much more efficient and productive and find a way to get some takeaways, protect the football and then we’ll go from there and get better the next week. That’s really what I’m looking for.”
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