The Detroit Lions had to overcome turnover problems in Weeks 11 and 12, as quarterback Jared Goff struggled to keep the ball in his hands. In Week 11, he threw three interceptions against the Bears. The following week, he fumbled three times, and the Lions suffered their third loss of the season. Goff, on the other hand, bounced back with a strong performance against the New Orleans Saints in Week 13. He avoided turnovers and threw two first-quarter touchdown passes to lead the Lions to their ninth victory of the season.
“I was ecstatic. Going back to what we discussed a few weeks ago, that’s not the easiest thing to do. “Man, take care of the football, be smart, pocket movement, but don’t take away who you are,” coach Dan Campbell told 97.1 The Ticket on Tuesday. “You don’t want to neuter him because he was a big part of why we had eight wins in the first place.” That’s what I assumed he did. I thought he took care of the football, that he was strong in the pocket like he always is, but he was fearless.”
Goff managed to strike a balance between being cautious with the ball and leading the offense. He was focused and made two clutch throws on the final drive to seal the victory. “I believe that’s the trick. “That’s the difficult part,” Campbell said. “It’s easy to dial back and say, ‘We need to take care of the football,’ and then you go into a shell and you’re not even close to the player you used to be.” He did an excellent job, in my opinion. Finally, that last drive helped us win the game.”
Campbell is a ‘natural fit’ for the MIKE linebacker position.
With Alex Anzalone out due to injury, the Lions handed the defense over to rookie Jack Campbell.
Campbell, a true middle linebacker in college, had been forced to play out of position as the team’s SAM backer for much of the season out of necessity. He finished with nine tackles, two for loss, and an interception on the team’s first defensive play on Sunday.
“I thought that was one of Jack’s best games.” He performed admirably. “Look, we weren’t concerned about him,” Dan Campbell said. “Getting the call in and getting it to the guys, that’s right up his alley.” He handled everything flawlessly. They gave us a lot of the fast motion stuff so that we could see it and hit some of these runs without delay. Then I watched him a little bit in space during the pass game. They tried to put AK on him a couple of times, and man, his patience to sit there, force him to break, and then drive on the ball was admirable. “I thought he did very well.”
The Lions have had the luxury of playing him at multiple positions, but Dan Campbell believes the MIKE position is the most natural for the Iowa product. “Look, part of his allure is that he can play all of them,” Dan Campbell said. “I’d say he’s probably our favorite person to see at MIKE. We already know he’s versatile, but the MIKE is a natural fit for him.”
Bruce Irvin’s promising debut Bruce Irvin, 36, made his Lions debut on Sunday after being signed to the team’s practice squad in Week 11. Detroit elevated the veteran for Sunday’s game after ensuring he was in football shape in recent weeks.
Irvin had a sack on one of his first snaps and two pressures overall. One of them resulted in a roughing the passer penalty because he was a step late in getting to Derek Carr on a hit that resulted in the quarterback being injured and leaving the game.
“That was encouraging to see. “We’ve seen it in practice here for the last three weeks,” Campbell said. “It’s just about making sure we don’t set him up for failure and that he’s got his football legs under him.” This was the week, and you know what, he got some pressures. You saw the sack, actually a couple of sacks, and he still has the ability to bend the corner. He has a quick first step and is aggressive. Listen, it’s encouraging, and it’s definitely something we can use here.”
