After two sloppy performances in a row, the Lions are cleaning things up. Dan Campbell is making sure of it: "We're going to get back to where we were," he said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket.
The Lions played pretty crisp football through their 7-2 start, then committed seven turnovers in two games. They were lucky to only lose once. They escaped the Bears in Week 11 despite three Jared Goff interceptions and a special teams fumble, but couldn't overcome three Goff fumbles against the Packers on Thanksgiving.
"That’s the difference right there," said Campbell. "It’s too much and it’s two games in a row we’ve gotten down two scores early in the game and it just takes us out of a rhythm. We gotta get back to what we do, man, take care of the ball and play our style of football."
Goff finished last season with the best touchdown-to-turnover ratio in the NFL. He went 10 full games and nearly 400 pass attempts without throwing a pick, a streak that stretched into this season. He's been looser with the ball of late, and the Lions haven't been quite as tight around him. Campbell said that if the Lions don't "stop the bleeding on offense," nothing else will matter. Goff hears him.
"Anytime he challenges us with that stuff, we typically respond well. He’s got a great pulse for us, when to push, when to prod and when he lays out some stuff in front of us, we typically respond well and get it done," said Goff.
The turnovers aren't all on Goff. His protection broke down in a big way last week. Campbell said he expects "more of our O-line, I hold them to a high standard and so do they." To re-emphasize ball security, Campbell said the Lions will pad-up at Wednesday's practice and put the players in stressful situations. The offense will have its hands full again Sunday against a Saints defense that has the second most interceptions and fourth most takeaways in the NFL.
"They’re built off of toughness, violence. I just know what they preach in that building," said Campbell, who spent five years as assistant head coach for the Saints when now-head coach Dennis Allen was defensive coordinator. "And takeaways. These guys are going to try to rub our nose in it, they’re going to try to beat us up, they’re going to fly to the football and it’s going to be one of those violent, physical games."
On defense, the Lions have to generate more pressure on the quarterback. That requires players beyond Aidan Hutchinson and Alim McNeill winning their one-on-one matchups up front, which will be another focus in practice this week. Detroit was shut out in the sack column last week for the fourth time this season. Its unreliable pass rush is glaring for a team with aspirations of a playoff run.
"We’re going to work on the details," Campbell said. "We got an action plan for our guys: 'Look, here’s exactly what you need to work on. It’s your first step, it’s your get-off, it’s your right hand, it’s the rip.' (Instead of) just saying we gotta work harder, we’re trying to give them some substance."
Despite their dip, the Lions still have a 2.5-game lead in the NFC North after the Vikings' loss to the Bears on Monday. They're one of only three eight-win teams in the NFC, along with the Eagles and 49ers. They're in a great position entering the stretch run, especially considering where they've normally been in the past: out of the race.
As December beckons, Campbell says the games will get tougher. The Lions are already experiencing that. And for Campbell, who chased and captured four division titles with the Saints, this is "what makes the game so great."
"Here we are in a position we haven’t been in and you got people nipping on your heels and nobody is giving up," he said. "You saw what Chicago did last night, we know what Minnesota is capable of, Green Bay just beat us. This thing is in full gear, man. It’s an all-out sprint to the finish line and nothing is going to be given. God I love that.
"And if that doesn’t motivate you and drive you, it’s no different than if you’re playing Madden, man, I want the hardest level. Don’t give me the easiest where I can just beat up on everybody and you’re winning by 50 and 60. At some point you’ve had enough of that. It’s about, level-up the play and only the best survive."
The Lions are eager for Sunday, hard as it is to win in the Superdome. It's a chance for redemption after two poor showings at home, an opportunity to wash last week's loss out of their mouth. It will linger like bad breath until they win. The Saints are a hungry team themselves, on a two-game slide and tied for first in the wide-open NFC South.
"I just think this is the ultimate level of competition in a playoff run," Campbell said. "It doesn’t get any sweeter."
Campbell can live with the Lions' loss to the Packers. He's been around the NFL long enough to know games like that happen. The only "shame of it," he said, "would be if we followed it up with another performance that isn’t our best, and I don’t believe that’s going to happen."
"I know it’s not going to happen," Campbell said. "We know we got a tough opponent coming up in a tough environment and man, our guys are going to embrace this. They always do. We’ll bounce back."