Lions News

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Two audibles, two very different reasons, result in long scores fueling Lions' victory



Justin Rogers
The Detroit News



Inglewood, Calif. — On two of the Lions' long touchdown plays in Sunday's 41-38 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, the play call that resulted in a score wasn't the play when the offense broke the huddle.

But the situations that led to a late change at the line of scrimmage couldn't have been more different.



On David Montgomery's 75-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, the Lions were trying to salvage a bad situation. As they got lined up, the team realized it had the wrong personnel for the original play call. There was supposed to be two tight ends on the field, but wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was out there instead of the second tight end.

When the call came from the sideline and quarterback Jared Goff relayed it to the huddle, St. Brown had a moment of panic.



"We called a play and I was like, 'I don't know what I'm doing on this play. I'm not supposed to be in,'" he said.

Goff said he should have noticed something was amiss in the huddle, but it wasn't until everyone got lined up he caught the mistake. Coordinator Ben Johnson saw it too and worked with his quarterback to check into one of the team's core run plays, hoping to get some positive yardage and survive to the next snap.



Instead, St. Brown provided a key block for what was one of the longest runs the Lions have had in years.

"We were laughing about it," Goff said. "You do all this planning through the week, Monday through Saturday, for what you want to do and making everything perfect, and we basically mess it up and it's a 75-yard run. That's a credit to (being) a good team. We adjust and are able to make adjustments on the fly like that."


Later in the game, Goff again changed the play, but this time it was by design. The Lions were facing third-and-1 and had a run called coming out of the huddle. But the quarterback had a second play, a pass, in his back pocket if the Chargers defense presented something specific. And when the Lions got that pre-snap look, Goff audibled and connected with tight end Brock Wright for a 25-yard touchdown out of play-action.

Goff explained his ability to check to a different play is a significant component of the scheme and weekly game planning sessions with Johnson.


"We check quite a bit," Goff said. "It's a lot of work throughout the week of how do we find a way to get to premier plays. … It's my job to be 100% on that and get us into the premier play on every one. Sometimes I (do) and sometimes I don't."

Two plays. Two vastly different scenarios. Two ideal results.


jdrogers@detroitnews.com

@Justin_Rogers

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Niyo: Lions show guts in all of Dan Campbell's glory



John Niyo
The Detroit News


Inglewood, Calif. — They’re not playing with house money anymore. Not like the last time the Lions were here in the place Jared Goff used to call home.

No, the stakes are definitely raised now, with a postseason berth calling and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs still there for the taking, something we haven’t said for decades in Detroit.


So Dan Campbell knew this was no time to be risk-averse Sunday afternoon, as the Lions came out of their bye looking to make a statement about their staying power in the NFC title chase.



It took every bit of his team’s collective muscle — and the head coach’s moxie — to do just that in a thrilling 41-38 win over the Los Angeles Chargers here at SoFi Stadium. But in the end, the actions spoke just as loudly as the legion of Lions fans that filled another opponent’s stadium Sunday, cheering Riley Patterson’s game-winning 41-yard field goal that sailed through the uprights as time expired.

Campbell called it a “good win” afterward, but he knew that was an understatement. It was a gutsy one, and the way it ended, with another bold fourth-down call in the final 2 minutes ultimately clinching the victory, seemed fitting.



Facing fourth-and-2 from the Chargers’ 26-yard line with 1:47 to play in a tie game, Campbell opted against trying the 44-yard field goal. He didn’t even hesitate, really, as he kept the offense on the field for it’s fifth fourth-down play of the game.

“With our guy, I kind of lean toward, ‘We’re going’ until he tells us we’re not,” Goff said, breaking into a big grin at the postgame press conference. “And that’s not just in that situation. That’s kind of in every fourth down we get. But I had a good feeling he’d go for it. … There’s many factors going into that. But, yeah, he’s got big balls, and he showed it there.”



He did, and his players showed something, too, capitalizing in the clutch once more in a season that’s starting to feel like something special for the Lions.

Goff’s 6-yard pass to rookie tight end Sam LaPorta gave Campbell the fourth-down conversion he wanted and the scenario he needed. In a game that saw both teams combine for nearly 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns, and one where Justin Herbert and the Chargers had scored on five consecutive possessions dating to the second quarter, it felt like a game where the team that had the ball last would win.



And as Campbell said with a laugh once it was over, “Well, we had the ball last.” But only because he’d made sure of it. And after three kneel-downs burned all but a couple seconds off the game clock, it was Patterson’s turn to trot onto the field and make sure the head coach’s gamble paid off, which he did.

“Well, to each his own,” Campbell said. “Some would say it’s a boneheaded move, and some say it’s not. I made the decision and I stick by that decision. … I trusted our guys, I trust Goff. And I felt like that was the right thing to do.”



Two years ago, when the Lions made this trip to Los Angeles in Campbell’s first season as a head coach, his team was still winless (0-6) and so was his quarterback, as Goff returned home to face the franchise that drafted him and the guy he’d been cast aside for in Matthew Stafford.

But that contest against the Super Bowl-bound Rams in 2021 was a mismatch on paper, and Campbell acted accordingly, leaning into his aggressive nature and pulling out all the stops. The Lions converted two fake punts and recovered a surprise onside kick that afternoon, yet still lost the game by two scores.



This time, it was a different mentality, though. Goff and the Lions were 6-2 coming out of their bye week, second only to Philadelphia (8-1) in the conference standings. And they were road favorites here against the Chargers, a .500 team loaded with talent and trying to stay afloat in a crowded AFC race.

Coming off their midseason bye, the Lions were as healthy as they’ve been since the season opener at Kansas City. And they got off to a promising start Sunday, as the defense forced a quick three-and-out and then Goff went to work.



He hit LaPorta for a 9-yard gain, and after an 8-yard run by David Montgomery — back after missing three games with a rib injury — Goff dropped back to pass and found Amon-Ra St. Brown for the first of several connections between the two California kids.

The Lions would eventually settle for a short field goal on that drive, though, and so would the Chargers on their next possession. Yet that was not the way the rest of this day would go, and you could tell both coaches knew it. Campbell and the Chargers’ Brandon Staley are two of the NFL’s analytics darling with the way they eschew punts and go, go, go.



And Sunday, they rarely said no. The two offensive combined for nine fourth-down tries, and ended up converting eight of them, including four that produced touchdowns. And to hear Campbell talk afterward, that really was part of the gameplan.

With his starting offensive line finally together again — Jonah Jackson and Frank Ragnow both returned from injury after the bye — and the backfield tandem of Montgomery and rookie Jahmyr Gibbs ready to roll, the pieces were in place. But the stage was set, too.



“We got our guys back,” Campbell said, nodding. “We’re at full force right now. And I have a ton of confidence in that offense and Ben Johnson calling that offense. And where that game was at, and what we were walking into, I just felt like it was the right thing to do.

“I told them all week we were gonna play aggressive, you know? I wanted us to be ready to go, and that was part of the message: Our demeanor, and the way we were gonna coach and play, we were gonna be aggressive.”



The way this game played out, they really had no choice, what with Herbert heating up and the Chargers rallying from a 14-point deficit to turn this into a shootout.

But that only added to the satisfaction once the victory was secured. For Goff, it was another reminder of how far he’s come in this second act of his career. If the last L.A. homecoming was a bitter pill to swallow, this one was something to savor, along with the 30,000-plus Lions fans who invaded SoFi Stadium.



“When I was walking off the field today, I kind of had those thoughts,” Goff admitted. “About our crowd and how loud they were, and they’re still cheering us on as we’re walking off the field. … I’ve never experienced that. It’s pretty incredible, and being able to be a part of it as the quarterback is pretty fun.”

So was the anticipation for a long plane trip home from the West Coast, as Goff planned to take a nap, and maybe watch a movie along with some of the game tape.


As for the head coach who’d spent the afternoon on a gambling spree?

“This’ll be one of those I just melt in my seat probably,” Campbell said, laughing.



john.niyo@detroitnews.com

@JohnNiyo

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Lions outlast Chargers in wild shootout after converting late-game fourth down



Justin Rogers
The Detroit News



Inglewood, Calif. — With both offenses going toe-to-toe, matching touchdown for touchdown, the Lions hardly had a choice when facing a fourth-and-short with under two minutes remaining in a tie game with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Taking the game-deciding snap, quarterback Jared Goff quickly worked through his reads. His first option, running back Jahmyr Gibbs, had been bumped off his route, and the No. 2 choice, Sam LaPorta, was covered early. Receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was covered too, so Goff flicked his eyes back to his rookie tight end, who had found some space.

As the pocket condensed, Goff was able to flick the ball over the oncoming rush for the short completion. Retaining control of their fate with the heart-stopping conversion, Goff took three knees to milk the remaining clock, setting up kicker Riley Patterson to boot a 41-yard game-winning field goal that allowed the Lions to escape a wild 41-38 shootout at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.



"I just wanted to finish with the ball in our hands and I liked where we were at offensively," Lions coach Dan Campbell said. "We were playing good, Goff was in a good spot and I felt like that was the right thing to do."

The Lions got off to a strong start, but as they've often done this season, they left a lot of meat on the bone, allowing the Chargers to hang around throughout the opening half.



After the defense forced a three-and-out on the game's opening possession, the Lions (7-2) appeared to grab the early lead on a touchdown toss to Jameson Williams, but the score was wiped out by a low-block infraction against left tackle Taylor Decker. Instead of the six points, the Lions were ultimately forced to settle for three on a 33-yard field goal by Patterson.

The Chargers (4-5) responded with a field goal of their own before the Lions' lead twice swelled to 14 points in the first half. Riding the hot hand of Gibbs, the Lions pushed their advantage to 10-3 in the opening quarter. Taking four straight handoffs, he gained 52 yards, capping the series with a 1-yard score around the right edge of the formation.



The Lions would then waste a takeaway in Chargers territory, coughing it up on downs near the goal line after Kerby Joseph's interception. But the offense didn't make the same mistake twice as Gibbs converted a fourth-and-goal run for his second touchdown of the game on the team's next possession. That made it 17-3 midway through the second quarter.

That was the start of an avalanche of scoring that carried into and through the third quarter. Converting three consecutive third downs, the Chargers cut the lead back to seven with a 29-yard touchdown strike from Justin Herbert to star receiver Keenan Allen.




That was short-lived as Lions running back David Montgomery romped 75 yards into the end zone on the first play of the ensuing possession.

Returning to the lineup after a two-game absence due to a rib injury, the veteran back cut behind a block from Decker and picked up key downfield blocks from receivers St. Brown and Williams before tight-roping the sideline the final 20 yards across the goal line.



Interestingly, St. Brown revealed after the game the Lions were in the wrong personnel grouping for the play. He wasn't supposed to be on the field, which required Goff to audible to the run to cover up the error.

But with a little more than three minutes remaining in the opening half, the Chargers were again able to get the deficit down to a touchdown when running back Austin Ekeler plunged into the end zone for a 2-yard score on fourth down to finish off a 10-play, 75-play drive.



The scoring parade briefly paused to open the second half when a dropped third-down pass by Gibbs kept Detroit out of field goal range and forced a punt.

The Chargers had no such issues maintaining their offensive momentum, putting together a third straight 10-play touchdown drive. Fueled by back-to-back third-down-converting catches by Allen, Herbert threaded an 18-yard needle to receiver Jalen Guyton, which tied the contest at 24 following the extra point.




The Lions were able to counter with touchdown of their own, with St. Brown putting a bow on the series with back-to-back grabs for 52 yards. On the second, he took a short toss from Goff and knifed through the Chargers secondary for the 20-yard touchdown.

That grab also gave St. Brown a new career high for receiving yards in a game. He finished with eight catches for 156 yards and the touchdown. It also marked the sixth time in the past seven games he topped the century mark.

"When the ball comes your way, are you making the play or are you not?" St. Brown said. "For me, that's the biggest thing. I want to make the play every time it comes my way."


Penalties prevented the Lions defense from righting the ship with edge rusher Julian Okwara getting hit with a roughing the passer call after hitting Herbert in the head and cornerback Cam Sutton twice flagged for pass interference on third-down plays, with the second infraction occurring in the end zone.



The Lions still nearly got the stop, stuffing three consecutive runs from the 1-yard line, before Herbert connected with rookie receiver Quentin Johnston out of play-action on fourth-and-goal to tie it back up at 31.

Again, the Lions punched back. Two throws to LaPorta for a combined 25 yards put the Lions in Chargers territory. And on third-and-1 from the 25-yard line, Brock Wright got behind the deepest defender on a play-action pass that Goff was able to float to the tight end for a go-ahead score with 7:30 remaining.




"It was (originally) a run play and (we) checked to what defense gave us," Goff said. "It was a one-man show, (Wright) got a good run fake and he kind of runs by the guy who has him in man (coverage), made a great catch and finished it."

Predictably, the lead didn't hold. Coming out of a timeout, Herbert found Allen deep on fourth-and-1 after Sutton got caught cheating on a run fake. Joseph had a chance to limit the damage to a fresh set of downs, but whiffed on a tackle attempt at the 14-yard line as Allen glided into the painted grass for a 38-yard touchdown, his second of the game.



The Lions immediately responded with a 41-yard catch-and-run by Kalif Raymond as the clock ticked under three minutes. But soon after facing fourth-and-2 in field goal range with 1:47 remaining, Campbell opted to go for it. The offense rewarded his faith as Goff found LaPorta for the conversion, setting up Patterson's winning kick.

Even though Campbell has long established his reputation for aggressive play-calling — the Lions went for it on fourth down five times in the victory — his players continued to share admiration and appreciation for his gutsiness after the win.



"I was excited," St. Brown said. "I even gave Campbell a high-five coming off the sideline. I don't know how many coaches are going to go for it in that situation, so hats off to him."

Following the frantically paced contest, Campbell said he was looking forward to decompressing on the long plane ride back to Detroit.



"This will be one of those where I just melt in my seat, probably," he said.

The Lions are back home next Sunday against the Chicago Bears.


jdrogers@detroitnews.com

@Justin_Rogers

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Dan Campbell's faith in his offense pays off for Detroit Lions in win over L.A. Chargers


Shawn Windsor
Detroit Free Press



INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Detroit Lions couldn’t stop one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. So they took the ball out of his hands in order to beat him.

Riverboat Dan Campbell?


Nah, just darn smart coaching. He saw what was happening, and he knew what would happen if he didn’t take one last gamble against the Los Angeles Chargers.



Never mind that it was fourth down. That the game was tied at 38. That 1:47 was left in the game. Campbell chose to go with the unit that made it to California.

And it wasn’t his defense.



Lions QB Jared Goff dropped back, waited, felt the pressure, stayed calm, and found rookie tight end Sam LaPorta for 6 yards. The Chargers had no timeouts.

Kneel. Kneel. Kneel. Field goal.



Game.

The ball sailed through the uprights as time expired for a 41-38 victory, and then, as has become a tradition this season on the road, the team celebrated with thousands of Honolulu Blue-wearing faithful, who took over SoFi Stadium, and nearby LAX Airport, for that matter — a flight from Detroit on Sunday morning was stuffed with buzzing fans.



They can’t get enough of this team or this coach and the toughness both continue to show. The Lions lost several of these games last season, usually coming up a play short in shootouts.

It’s not ideal, obviously, giving up 38 points — but every time Los Angeles tied the game, the Lions responded, usually with a pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who caught eight passes for 156 yards.



But it wasn’t only him. It never is.

This coaching staff will lean on anyone, and ask everyone to make a play no matter how high — or intense — the leverage. Does a tie game midway through the fourth on the road against a surging offense count?



I’d say so, not that Campbell or Ben Johnson worry about that.

And so, why not throw to Brock Wright on third-and-1 with seven minutes left? Why not fake a handoff, freeze the linemen and toss it over the top for a 25-yard touchdown?



Wright is on the roster. He’s a pro. His coaches believe. And they show it every week.

That faith is partly why this team shows such resilience. Yeah, the Chargers were merely 4-4 coming into the game, but they have talent, and were playing in their own time zone, three hours different from the visitors.



It’s not easy winning out here, no matter the opponent — especially when the opponent has QB Justin Herbert throwing to wideout Keenan Allen.

The Lions couldn’t deal with them, especially in the second half, and when they tied the game at 31 after a series of demoralizing whiffs and mistakes?


It didn’t look good — at all.

There was a roughing the passer call on Julian Okwara that offset an intentional grounding flag and then a scramble on third down when the line lost contain. Look, other teams give up yards to quarterbacks with good feet, too, not just the Lions. But it looks like the Lions struggle more because their own quarterback isn't a scrambler.



It’s a jolt to the system.



Herbert isn't Lamar Jackson or even Josh Allen, but he shows an easy grace and sneaky quickness, as he did when he easily outran Aidan Hutchinson to the sideline, buying time to throw to Quentin Johnston 17 yards down the field.

That play eventually led to a touchdown to tie the game at 31. But, really, take your pick of the plays Herbert made, even without his main receiver, on the drive. Perhaps none were bigger than the first third-down conversion, when it looked like the Lions had him hemmed in the pocket before he squirted out, then raced for 13 yards to convert.



Try shaking off all that.

Oh, and this too: A couple of pass interference penalties on the same drive, including one in the end zone on fourth down that gave Los Angeles a fresh set of downs from the 1-yard-line. They needed every one of them as the Lions held the first three attempts.



On Sunday, so many times, the Lions would come close to making the play to stop the drive and then miss the tackle or draw the flag or succumb to supreme skill, sometimes on the same play. Herbert had time, yes, but made the sort of throws only a handful of guys in the league can make.

So, yes, the defense had chances to force punts, and even force a turnover on downs, but this same quarterback and offense on Monday ripped the New York Jets, featuring one of the best defensive units in the league.



In other words, the Lions weren’t going to stop them.

Sure, sometimes a team and a quarterback and a receiver get on a roll, and it creates a percussive kind of rhythm that’s impossible to slow. And maybe that’s part of what happened.


But the Lions can’t spend a whole game making so many miscues of focus. Not if they want to get to where they want to go.

The Vikings won again, if you noticed. They beat the Saints to improve to 5-4 and stay two games back of the Lions with two head-to-head matchups coming in December and January. They are coming. Or at least they aren’t going away. The NFC North is there for the taking, but the race to get there will get tougher, especially if the Lions can’t clean up their act on one side of the ball.



True, the Lions won’t see another quarterback as good as Herbert the rest of the way. That’ll help. And if they do — hello, Joshua Dobbs? — they can always do what they just did: Keep it away from him, and lean on their own offense, an increasingly special group.

Campbell did that Sunday, and he got the kind of win that was unimaginable not so long ago.



Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him@shawnwindsor.

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Dan Campbell earns Coach of the Year praise for, ahem, gutsy calls in Lions' 41-38 win



Jared Ramsey
Detroit Free Press



Dan Campbell is known for his love for aggressive play calls, but the fourth-down call to seal the Detroit Lions' 41-38 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday will be a fourth-down call that sticks out against the rest for a long time.

With the game tied at 38 and the clock reading 1:48, Campbell kept his offense on the field instead of sending Riley Patterson out to attempt the 43-yard field goal to take the lead. The decision may have been was born out of frustration and mistrust of the defense, which could not slow down Justin Herbert and the Chargers' offense.


He couldn't trust the defense to get a stop more than the offense to pick up more than 2 yards on the next play, and rightfully so. On fourth down, Jared Goff waited patiently in the pocket before firing a perfect pass to Sam LaPorta for a 6-yard gain and a first down.



Detroit killed the but 2 seconds left on the clock after that, then sent out Patterson, who nailed the 41-yard kick for the win.

The gutsy decision moved the Lions to 4-of-5 on fourth down conversions in the game, and they were all needed to outlast the Chargers' potent offense. Detroit jumped out to a 17-3 lead thanks to amazing performances from their two running backs, David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs, but couldn't buy a stop defensively against Justin Herbert and the L.A. offense.



The gambles paid off for Detroit, who won largely because they had the ball last. The Lions now sit at 7-2 for just the third time in franchise history. They also hit that mark in 1993 (the last time they won the division) and 2014 (made the playoffs).

Detroit fans and the rest of the NFL world erupted with praise for Campbell for playing for the win and trusting his team's best unit, the offense, to deliver when it mattered most.

The energy surrounding the Lions from fans is palpable. The back-and-forth win against a playoff team from last year was proof Detroit is built for the biggest moments and ready to return to the postseason. Even though there were mistakes, fans recognized this was the type of game old Lions teams would fumble away, not win with clutch playcalling. It was also another strong performance by traveling Lions fans, who took over SoFi Stadium with Honolulu blue.

The Lions social media team also got in on the fun online and took a shot at the Chargers, who called the Lions' rookies "questionable draft picks" in their animated schedule release video before the season.

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Chargers’ offense shreds Lions but defense fails miserably in loss on last play



BY JEFF MILLER
STAFF WRITER


He put up 175 yards on 11 receptions and scored two touchdowns while playing through a shoulder injury that, for one stretch, knocked him from the game.

His team couldn’t be stopped, reaching the end zone on five consecutive possessions to close the afternoon and totaling a season-high in points.



And Keenan Allen still lost, as did the rest of the Chargers, 41-38 to Detroit at SoFi Stadium.

The longest-tenured player on the team — a man who has seen plenty of these types of defeats — was asked how he felt Sunday.



“In this particular game, like Kobe,” Allen said. “You go out and score something crazy and take an ‘L.’ One of those.”

Indeed, Kobe Bryant could have related, the Lakers legend authoring several highlight shows that nevertheless ended in lights-out defeat.



As good as the Chargers were on offense against the Lions, they were just as bad on defense — and even worse when it mattered most.

The Chargers were powerless to stop Detroit on fourth-and-two in the final two minutes, Jared Goff hitting tight end Sam LaPorta for a six-yard gain to set up Riley Patterson’s winning 41-yard field goal as time expired.



“We gotta be better on defense,” safety Derwin James Jr. said. “I mean, 38 points is enough for us to win any game. We wasn’t good enough today.”

The bitter loss came with an extra flavor of sting. Playing for Jacksonville in January, Patterson kicked a 36-yard field goal on the final snap to oust the Chargers from the playoffs.



This time, his kick was the final gut punch as the Chargers were repeatedly slashed and pounded, yielding 533 total yards and an average of 8.3 yards per play.

Goff threw for 333 yards, David Montgomery ran for 116 yards and Amon-Ra St. Brown caught passes for 156 yards. Yards, yards and more yards … the Chargers just couldn’t make it stop.



“You have a standard that you set,” linebacker Kenneth Murray Jr. said. “Not being able to get a stop is not the standard we set. It sucks. I’m a bit pissed off right now.”

The Chargers allowed the Lions to convert on four of five fourth downs. Detroit moved into Chargers’ territory on all nine of its full possessions, scoring seven times and once turning the ball over on downs — at the one-yard line.




The Lions punted just once — early in the third quarter — and then scored the next three times they had the ball to win it.

“We gotta point the finger at ourselves first and figure out what we did wrong,” defensive lineman Morgan Fox said. “We just have to be better.”



The Chargers (4-5) were coming off back-to-back smothering defensive efforts in victories over the Chicago Bears and New York Jets. After struggling early this season, especially against the pass, the Chargers were trending positively.

But Detroit (7-2, second in the NFC) represented a bigger challenge, the Lions also having had last week off and arriving at SoFi Stadium refreshed and ready to resume their stellar, feel-good season.



They came out and proved it by running through, over and around the Chargers, amassing 177 rushing yards and an average of 9.3 per attempt in the first half.

The lowlight for the Chargers was a 75-yard touchdown sprint by Montgomery late in the second quarter.


Jameson Williams catches ball vs LA Chargers_11-12-2023.jpg

“You give up a play like that,” coach Brandon Staley said, “and it takes a lot of air out of you.”

This defense is Staley’s. Along with general manager Tom Telesco, he built it. He runs the schemes and calls the plays and, after another failed performance, took the blame.



Defensive lapses have been one of the few consistencies over Staley’s time as head coach. Big plays were again a problem Sunday as the Lions generated eight that netted at least 20 yards.

Afterward, Staley was pushed for answers that remain elusive 2½ seasons into his reign. He repeatedly talked about having the right players and maintaining the belief that things would work out.



“I know the group that I’ve been coaching for nine games, and it is good enough to beat anybody we play,” Staley said of this team. “We’ve played the very best teams in the NFL, and we’ve been in every single football game.”

The Chargers certainly were in this game but never led. The score was tied four times after they came back from being down two touchdowns late in the first half.



Justin Herbert finished 27 of 40 for 323 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. Along with Allen’s production, running back Austin Ekeler had 115 yards from scrimmage and a score.

Rookie wide receiver Quentin Johnston had his first career touchdown catch and veteran wideout Jalen Guyton his first of the season.



And all of that just wasn’t enough.

“It’s frustration,” Allen said. “I felt like I did everything I could. So I’m happy with that. I left all 110% in the box. That’s really all I can do.”



The five-time Pro Bowler was asked about a potential rift forming between the Chargers’ offensive and defensive players as this uneven season continues to bump along.

“We’ll never do that,” Allen said. “We go to work everyday together, and we come out of this thing together. No matter what’s going on, we still got each other’s back. They just had a rough day today.”



Jeff Miller is the Chargers beat writer for the Los Angeles Times. He previously spent 20 years as a sports columnist for the Orange County Register and, before that, the Miami Herald. He also served as the Angels beat writer for The Times and the Register. His other stops include the Palm Beach Post and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

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'That's my job': Kicker Riley Patterson delivers in walk-off fashion for Lions



Nolan Bianchi
The Detroit News



Inglewood, Calif. — Lions kicker Riley Patterson had a Bible verse running through his head.

2 Timothy 1:7: "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline."


And that, dear Lions fans, is the credo that lifted Detroit to victory on Sunday at SoFi Stadium. Patterson recited the verse again at his locker after kicking a 41-yard game-winning field goal as the Lions beat the Los Angeles Chargers, 41-38, in walk-off fashion.



“I love it, man. That’s the type of stuff that you dream about as a kicker, coming out here and making big kicks," Patterson said. "Your team needs it in big moments and that’s what you live for.

“That’s my job.”



The Lions plan to finish off the game took a set of guts from head coach Dan Campbell and precision from the players who executed. Detroit took over with 3:34 to go, after the Chargers had tied the game at 31, and wound up facing a third-and-14 at the Los Angeles 38 — right at the fringe of Patterson’s range.

Option A was to pick up a few yards, try to make the kick a bit more manageable, and pray the defense hangs on after Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert gets the ball back with about 90 seconds left. Option B — the one Campbell selected — was to consider it four-down territory. Amon-Ra St. Brown picked up 12 yards to make it fourth-and-2, Jared Goff converted it with a throw to Sam LaPorta and then the Lions ran down the clock to two seconds before Patterson’s kick.

Patterson said he was “pretty fired up” when he realized the game would come down to his foot.

“Jared goes down to the knee, I’m like, ‘OK, let’s do it, man. We know what’s gonna happen now,’” Patterson said. “So it’s really exciting.”



Despite the excitement, it wasn’t exactly new territory.

The last time Patterson, who was with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2022, lined up for a game-winning kick was in last year’s Wild Card round — and he was also playing the Chargers. Patterson’s 36-yard field goal as time expired completed a 27-0 comeback to finish off Jacksonville’s first playoff victory since January 2018.



Patterson said Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker found him after the game to say, “Dude, two times in a row?”

"I thought, 'Jeez. Sorry, man,'" Patterson said.

But let's be real. He's not that sorry.



nbianchi@detroitnews.com

@nolanbianchi

[whatever_gong82]

Alexander: Staley takes responsibility, but Chargers players need to step up as well


Defense is exposed in a loss to Detroit, and afterward the coach says, ‘I take full responsibility’

By JIM ALEXANDER | jalexander@scng.com | The Press-Enterprise
PUBLISHED: November 12, 2023 at 8:13 p.m. | UPDATED: November 12, 2023 at 8:44 p.m.


INGLEWOOD – Brandon Staley took a page out of his old boss’s playbook Sunday afternoon. Maybe he should be a little more careful with that.


Sean McVay has been notorious for taking the responsibility on himself for Rams’ failures, even on occasions when the responsibility more accurately belonged to those on the field. When you get to the postseason four times in six years, reach the Super Bowl twice and win one, you’ve got enough leeway to get away with it.

Staley, whose one season as McVay’s defensive coordinator in 2020 helped propel him to his first head coaching job with the Chargers, has taken the same approach. After a porous defensive effort ended with Riley Patterson’s walkoff 41-yard field goal and a 41-38 win for the Detroit Lions, Staley fell on his sword much as he did three weeks ago after a loss in Kansas City.


“I didn’t do a good enough job on defense for us today,” Staley said, and never mind that he didn’t personally whiff on a tackle or blow a coverage. “That was the story, run and pass. Didn’t do a good enough job on the run game in the first half and then in the second half there were far too many (explosive plays). So I didn’t do a good enough job for us today.

“We got to go back to practice and we’ve got to get back to work and focus on fundamentals. You know, the fundamentals of playing defense start at the line of scrimmage, playing blocks, leveraging the football, tackling and then staying connected in coverage. You know, we didn’t rush well enough today. didn’t cover well enough and it starts with me. … It wasn’t good enough today in any phase. And again, like I said, I take full responsibility.”



As noble as it is to take full responsibility, and as useful as it might be to relieve some of the scrutiny on the players who aren’t getting it done, a coach should be careful before going that route. You take responsibility publicly too many times and the higher-ups might start to believe you.

Staley made his bones as a defensive coach, remember. His Chargers’ head coaching record is now 23-20, his teams have played one postseason game (and what a debacle that was last January), his 2023 team is now 4-5 and faces an uphill battle to get back to the playoffs and he has one year (at a reported $4 million) left on his contract after this season. And the people he needs to convince are (in ascending order) general manager Tom Telesco, president of football operations John Spanos and owner Dean Spanos, John’s dad.



What’s in his favor is that the Spanoses historically don’t fire coaches in midseason, and they also historically don’t like to pay coaches not to coach. The last time a Dean Spanos team canned a coach in midseason was 1998, when they fired Kevin Gilbride after six games and replaced him with June Jones. (That team finished 5-11 anyway).

Mike McCoy got the full four years at the end of the team’s San Diego run even with 4-12 and 5-11 records the last two, and Anthony Lynn got the full four years at the start of the team’s L.A. existence even with 5-11 and 7-9 records in his last two seasons. Both men reached the postseason once.


Staley’s coaching style is polarizing, though he’s not nearly as much of a riverboat gambler as he was in his first two seasons. He can be mildly condescending, though in a passive-aggressive way as when he told one inquisitor Sunday, “I appreciate your line of questioning” before disputing it.

But here’s where the Chargers are: They’re 4-5 overall and 2-5 in games decided by a touchdown or less. They carried a two-game winning streak Sunday thanks to a schedule that put them against two straight opponents using backup quarterbacks, the New York Jets and Chicago Bears. Sunday they faced a Lions team that is now 7-2 and is displaying all of the gifts that Jared Goff brought with him when the Rams traded up and drafted him No. 1 overall in 2016.



Goff picked the Chargers apart Sunday (23 for 33, 333 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and no sacks), while running backs David Montgomery (116 yards and a touchdown in 12 carries) and Jahmyr Gibbs (77 in 14 carries with two scores) raced past them. Detroit had 16 offensive plays go beyond 10 yards, eight of them 20 yards are more, including two Goff completions of 40-plus yards and a 75-yard scoring scamper by Montgomery on the first possession following a Chargers touchdown.

“A lot of those plays we missed a tackle or a guy didn’t see it right,” safety Derwin James Jr. said. “So we just got to be able to get guys on the ground and eliminate those explosive plays. … You got to get more guys running to the ball. I feel like the more guys running to the ball, the less chances of a guy breaking. So we got to get more pursuit for the ball and get guys to the ball.”



And when he was asked if this involved fundamentals, effort or talent, he answered: “Want-to.”

That should be a red flag.



It is worth noting that linebacker Chris Rumph II suffered a foot injury in pre-game warmups and wasn’t available, leaving the Chargers a man short at that position. But the Chargers’ 38 points, and by extension Justin Herbert’s brilliance (323 yards, four touchdowns), should have been enough. And really, James said, 28 should have been enough.

“It’s frustrating as hell because our job, we want to go out and dominate,” James said, who then said it was time for players to look in the mirror.



“And,” he added, “start with me. We’re going to get it fixed.”

It’s good when the leaders accept responsibility. But if the Chargers are going to make a run with eight games left, it can’t end there.


jalexander@scng.com