DETROIT -- The Detroit Lions spent the bye week trying to get their third-down offense right.
But they have even more homework to do after an all-around putrid showing in their loss to the Minnesota Vikings. No matter how anyone slices it or deep into the analytics one dives, it was all bad.
Dan Campbell did what he always did after a loss and took the blame. The Lions coach said they got whopped in all three phases, and whenever that happens, especially after a bye, that’s on him. Jared Goff wasn’t letting that slide, though, pointing the finger right back at himself and his teammates.
“I know he takes a lot of ownership in that, but I felt like we were ready to go,” Goff said. “I felt fresh, we all felt fresh. Sure, I’m sure he’d like to do things differently, but from my perspective, we did what we were supposed to do, and we didn’t play well as players.
“We didn’t in any phase, and they did. They played better than us today, and it’s been a long time since we had this feeling of playing kind of poorly in all three phases, and you do that, you probably lose.”
Goff isn’t wrong. It’s been a long time since the Lions looked like this. It wasn’t just a loss. The offense lacked any punch or efficiency, and the special teams got blown out of the water.
The offense went three-and-out on three straight possessions for the first time since 2023. But it was so much worse than that. Across 30 plays on seven drives between the first and third quarters, the Lions gained 68 yards, scored one touchdown on a 35-yard drive, lost a fumble and punted five times. And after four more three-and-outs against the Vikings, the Lions have 20 through eight games.
They had 17 during all of last season.
Detroit went five-of-17 on third down, and while it would be easy to continue pointing to that. It’s not like it was much better on first or second down, with the Lions faced with an average third-down-and-distance of 7.5 yards against the Vikings.
“First of all, the fact that we had 17 third-downs, that’s crazy,” Campbell said. “Our first and second down efficiency has got to be better. I’d start there. Then, yes, the third down is still an issue. (But) we didn’t run the ball well, 3.3 average, that ain’t good enough. You can’t run it; it’s hard to be an explosive offense because now you’re a sitting duck. You’ll sit back there in the gun, and everybody knows you’re passing. They just pin their ears back and get after you, and run all the games and get up there and mugs and all that good stuff.
“So, yeah, we go to clean some things up. But I’m not in panic mode.”
The once mighty offensive line is struggling and limping into back-to-back road trips. The rushing attack is at its worst levels of Campbell’s tenure. The Lions ran 20 times for only 65 yards. Goff was sacked five times, hit 10 times and pressured 26 times by the Vikings in the ugly showing, per Pro Football Focus. The quarterback has already been sacked 18 times this season,
There are more than a couple of problems left to fix despite trying to find the solution during the bye week. That’s not what anyone wants to hear after coaches and players talked about all the fixes they honed in on during the week away. But that’s life.
“It’s something where – OK man, you go into the bye and you look at a few things and then we make a couple of tweaks and come out and you’re like, ‘Ah,’" Campbell said. “We didn’t finish the way that I thought we would, and I’m sure everybody. So, I don’t know if concern is the right word, but we got to clean it up. We got to find the right balance there to help us convert.
“We probably got to do a couple of things a little different. And we were, we were doing a few things different. But we may need to change up in some areas.”
It’ll be interesting to see what changes are on the way. The main players on offense will remain the same. But the offensive line faces some question marks, with struggles compounded by injuries.
Taylor Decker has already missed two games. The veteran left tackle has spent each week rehabbing to get ready for the next game, then repeating that process the morning after playing. Decker exited for a handful of plays due to a knee injury, which isn’t ideal with his lingering shoulder issues.
Starting left guard Christian Mahogany suffered a leg injury and is expected to miss an extended period of time. The Lions are hopeful Mahogany’s season isn’t over, but it could take until late December before he’s back on the field.
Penei Sewell and Tate Ratledge left for a couple of plays on Sunday, too. Each returned, but seeing how they respond will be something to watch this week. And center Graham Glasgow had an outing to forget, with Detroit’s interior offensive line getting worked by the Vikings. Everything starts on the offensive line in Detroit. And the road to improvement starts in the trenches, as it opens everything up.
But the Lions are running out of internal options. Here they are at 5-3, fresh off the bye, stuck in the middle of a heated NFC North. Offensive coordinator John Morton, Campbell and Goff need to get in the lab because the offensive line is struggling, and the lack of explosive plays and anything consistent from the rush is concerning.
“No concern, no,” Goff said. “There’s certainly an urgency of fixing things, and we did fix things, I think, from two weeks ago. But there’s more to fix, obviously. There’s a ton to fix, and a ton of things to get better at, and it’s a long season, and we have to get to it and fix these things.”
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