Lions News

[-Deborah-]

[jaadam4]

Kings of the North!!

[LightninBoy]

Losing to Green Bay Packers stunk for Detroit Lions. But they don't suddenly stink.


Jeff Seidel
Detroit Free Press

It was just the turnovers.

And turnovers can be fixed.

More importantly, turnovers can be created.

“Punch-outs, more strip attempts, be in a position to make the plays and make the plays that come to you,” linebacker Derrick Barnes said. “We haven't gotten any of those this year. … I think it's just a mindset thing.”

Campbell agreed. He wants this team to take that mindset.

“Here’s what we got to do, we have to get takeaways,” Campbell said. “We have to, that’s something that we desperately got to work on. That’s one of the things we did a really good job of this time last year, once we hit that last call it 10, eight to 10 games, we were getting takeaways

No, this article has the cause-effect reversed. The Lions have been outplayed the last few weeks and that has created the turnover opportunities.

You can't just say "stop the turnovers" or "get more take aways". You cant talk it into existence. You also can't really practice specifically for it - sure maybe some punch out drills or something - but nothing thats going to move the needle.

Turnovers are a result of 1) luck and 2) better talent

You know what causes turnovers? QB pressure - real pressure that makes the QB rush throws and make bad decisions. Not the kind of pressure that the QB easily rolls away from to buy another 3 or 4 seconds. To generate real pressure, you need QB rushing talent in the front 7. Lions don't have it. And that's not something you can just "clean up".

Another thing that causes turnovers is ball hawking CBs. The Lions lost 2 of their 3 top CBs for the year. Again - you can't just "clean that up".

You know what prevents turnovers? Trust in your defense to get stops so you don't feel like your offense has to score every possession. An offensive line that can keep the QB clean even when the team needs to throw.

The concerning part of these last few games is not just the turnovers, but that it was the opposing team that able to apply the pressure necessary to get those turnovers. Meanwhile, the Lions defense sat back passively waiting for the other team to make a mistake and the offense was pressing on every drive to score. This is a sign of the opposing team *outplaying* the Lions. The opposing team is making plays, the Lions are not. Again, that's not something you can just "clean up".

[chemiclord]

Well, part of the problem is that Campbell very clearly DOESN'T trust the defense to get stops, and they have proven worthy of that lack of trust quite frequently.

That said, the answer to that isn't to dip back into the stupid aggression that marked his early tenure where he was making dumb decisions on 4th down, or not taking what the opposing defense was giving.

The defense isn't as COMPLETELY helpless as they've looked, as others have noted. The offense doesn't strictly NEED to score on every drive, Campbell's just been coaching like they have to. The Baltimore and Chargers games seem to have broken something in his brain.

[froot loops]

We will see how it plays out on Sunday. If Sewell and Decker repeat their bad performances, it's a problem. I still think as well as the offense has played this year that it can be better. But it was an issue the last two games.

The defense can be better but they may have to change some things up. My worry is they don't think it's a trend that we are seeing clearly. But this coaching staff has made clear changes in their approach in the middle of the season that were impactful before.

[Mainevent]

I would love to have somebody do a film breakdown on Glenn's defense. Last year they start off horrendous and then figured out how to be solid enough down the stretch. This year they started off strong, looking like they carried over whatever clicked last year (for the most part) and now are trending back the other way. I get the sense that Glenn's just too slow to change or doesn't anticipate what teams might do to counter the effective things the Lions actually do. I also think they are so focused on stopping the run that that has put the LBs in Safeties in a position to be aggressive and hurts the pass defense on the back end. But again, that's just what I feel and pick up bit from the games, I want somebody to look at the all 22 who knows what they are doing to break it down. I know there is a lack of talent/consistency at some key positions, but their are other teams out there in a similar boat and they manage to muck things up week and week out often enough.

[mason reese]

I would love to have somebody do a film breakdown on Glenn's defense. Last year they start off horrendous and then figured out how to be solid enough down the stretch. This year they started off strong, looking like they carried over whatever clicked last year (for the most part) and now are trending back the other way. I get the sense that Glenn's just too slow to change or doesn't anticipate what teams might do to counter the effective things the Lions actually do. I also think they are so focused on stopping the run that that has put the LBs in Safeties in a position to be aggressive and hurts the pass defense on the back end. But again, that's just what I feel and pick up bit from the games, I want somebody to look at the all 22 who knows what they are doing to break it down. I know there is a lack of talent/consistency at some key positions, but their are other teams out there in a similar boat and they manage to muck things up week and week out often enough.

Here are two articles breaking down Glenn’s scheme and the reviews are not good…

https://lionswire.usatoday.com/lists/lions-vs-packers-film-rview-detroit-takeaways-goff-bad-defense-offensive-line-what-i-learned/

https://lionswire.usatoday.com/2023/11/28/detroit-lions-defense-coaching-blunders-poor-fundamentals-aaron-glenn/

[LightninBoy]

Well, part of the problem is that Campbell very clearly DOESN'T trust the defense to get stops, and they have proven worthy of that lack of trust quite frequently.

The problem with complementary football is that the feedback loop can be negative too. That's what we are seeing here IMO.

[Iron Lion]

But what about the Peckers? Hell, even the Bears? If either one of them wins out and we lose out, they win the division.

[wcfwtf]

That would be the most Lion thing ever lol

[wcfwtf]

Packers play Chiefs

[wcfwtf]

Rams might be wild card against Lions

[Mainevent]

Thanks for the links, Mason. I think. Not great stuff on Glenn for sure.

[-Deborah-]

[-Deborah-]

Aidan Hutchinson is going through hell every time the Lions play - A to Z Sports