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The Detroit Lions were blown out of the water in Week 16 against the Carolina Panthers.
Most of the day, they didn’t look like the team that had played gritty football much of the second half of the year, especially on the defensive side.
Detroit head coach Dan Campbell took that performance personally, but the coach also thinks the Lions are still on the right track in order to turn things around when it counts the most this week.
Speaking to the media on Monday, December 26, Campbell delivered a promise to fans. As he said, the team’s been down and counted out before, and as a result, they will know how to handle such frustration off another ugly loss and be ready to play.
“I think that’s us. We know what it’s like to be down. We know what it’s like to be counted out when you don’t play well or you don’t play winning football. We were able to get ourselves out of it, so look, we just had a loss. We had a setback and the thing is, that’s what’s a little frustrating. It does feel like a little bit of a setback. Losing’s one thing, but when you when you lose that way, that’s a setback. The good news is that we control our own destiny moving forward as it pertains to that, how we take care of that,” Campbell told the media. “The way we come back into work on Wednesday and the way that we’re gonna approach the week, we can clean up every bit of that up. We’ve got the right type of guys that are going to come in here and they’re prideful. They’re going to put the best foot forward and we’re going to be ready to go.”
The Lions had better be ready to go, because they face a Chicago team that put up 30 points on them November 13 to go with 408 total yards of offense and 258 rushing yards. Detroit won the game 31-30, but it was close most of the day, and the Lions had to rally from a 24-10 deficit in the second half.
The Lions will be tested immediately in this game, but it’s a test that Campbell seems to think they are well-equipped to pass given what they have gone through already this season.
Campbell Promises Lions Will Improve Defense
Naturally, the problems that the Lions sustained were easy to identify and spot, and as a result, Campbell seemed to understand the team had some big problems on the defensive side last week.
Heading into a matchup against Chicago, Campbell spoke to the media on Monday, December 26 and admitted that the challenge for the team now was getting ready for a new game. As he said, that is a challenge the Lions plan to accept at this point, and will meet head on.
“We’re going to do everything we can in our power to correct everything that came up. We’re going to make sure that we’re ready, 100% ready. Our guys, they come in Wednesday, they’re going to be ready to go and we’ll prepare for every look that Chicago has,” Campbell told the media. “We know what they’re going to do with (Justin) Fields, we know these two running backs, this offensive line will come off the ball. We’re going to have everybody top to bottom, our front seven and our defensive backs, we’re going to be ready to roll. Those guys are gonna be ready. They got a good plan over there, what they do and this quarterback can run. We know exactly what he is. He’s dangerous, so we know everything starts with a run game with them. ”
With Chicago poised to bring a rush offense that is ranked tops in the league into the game piling up over 179 yards per-game on average, the task isn’t going to be easy. Campbell, however, knows that attention to detail could provide the biggest advantage to the Lions in the end.
“We have to improve our area like we have to improve every little thing, all the details that got us to this point in the first place that we did before this week. We have to get back to the basics and we’re going to get back to the basics,” the coach said.
Campbell: Ford Field Crowd Can Help Lions
Another big advantage for the Lions this week is the fact that the team will be able to play at home after a pair of weeks on the road. That could help the team get some of their juice back.
“It’s always good to play (at) home, to get back with our crowd back at Ford Field, that’s always a good thing. That’ll give us a little pep in our step, get us centered again and then it’s up to us to decide what we want to do and how we want to handle this. That’s the good news,” Campbell told the media.
As a whole, Campbell admitted that the stinging defeat was actually good news for Detroit, because it can allow the Lions a chance to step up and powerfully respond.
“I’m just going to say this again, it stings. It’s awful, but man, it’s the best thing (that) can happen to us because I think no matter who you are and whatever you do, some of your best work is when you get your face kicked in. I mean that literally,” Campbell said. “I don’t know everybody gets their face kicked in, but I do know when your back’s against the wall and you get trotted on and everything’s at its worst, you either just stay down there or you get up and you come back motivated and upset with calculated energy and aggression and you go and there’s purpose. I think this is the best thing for us.”
Already, Campbell has seen his Lions respond to adversity in such a way this season. He thinks the team will be able to clean things up and respond once again with everything on the line.
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