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DETROIT (AP) — Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell felt the offense needed to have a clean day.
“We flipped the ball twice and one of them scored seven. That’s the difference in the game,” he said.
Well, and porous defense.
Jared Goff passed for 378 yards and four touchdowns, but Detroit suffered a heavy 48-45 loss to Gino Smith and the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Smith scored 369 yards and his 3 touchdowns and Rashard Penney scored 151 yards and his 2 touchdowns.
Seattle has never used punters. The Seahawks scored on seven drives, missed a field goal in the eighth, and took a knee in the ninth to end the game. They also scored in the second half on Tariq Uhlen’s 40-yard interception return.
“Defensively, we haven’t been good,” Campbell said. We’ll find the best fit, not only to have a chance to win the next game, but to win the next three or four games, if that means playing with younger players, that’s what we do. It’s what you do.”
Campbell said Glenn and his staff would help review the defense, but their own performance would be part of it.
“We look at everything,” he said. “I think AG is a hell of a coach – that’s why we hired him – but we’re going to look at everything defensively. I think it’s time to dig deeper.”
The Lions went 3-13-1 last year and lost 467 points (31st in the league). They allowed a league-worst 141 this season. This is Campbell’s average of 29.0 points in his first 21 games as coach.
The Lions are the 30th team to score 140 or more points in their first four games during the Super Bowl era. In his 29 games in the first he went 109-7 (. 940), while Detroit was his 1-3.
“If you get 45 points on the offense, I think you have to win the game,” Lions rookie defensive end Aidan Hutchison said. We had a bad defensive performance and we have to get better than that.”
Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone doesn’t think it’s a matter of talent to keep the defense down.
“This is the NFL and everybody has enough to play in this league,” he said. It’s football without errors and discipline, and that’s kind of where we’re on defense right now, and we all need to fill in our own piece of the puzzle.
Metcalfe was recognized for taking a shot at Lions cornerback Jeff Okuda earlier in the week. Finished.
“Hats off to him. He’s a good corner,” Metcalf said, repeating a phrase he used earlier in the week.
Okuda said he doesn’t see the match as a grudge match between the two.
“I don’t necessarily know if there was a back and forth,” he said. “He is clearly one of the top receivers in the league.
Campbell believes Detroit’s defensive problems have one root cause. Unfortunately, it’s not something he can fix.
“I think we lack confidence. It’s very obvious,” he said. “To get it, you need production and success in the game. You have to stop playing, stop playing—of that nature. lead to the violation of
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