Dan Campbell answered the question with a question of his own. Asked if he buys the idea that the Lions struggle to defend mobile quarterbacks ahead of Saturday's divisional round clash with Jayden Daniels and the Commanders, Campbell said, "Do you buy that?"
"It’s like, somebody tells you that, ‘We don’t handle running quarterbacks very well.' Well, tell me the team that does," Campbell said Monday.
He went on to reference the likes of Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, both of whom have gashed the Lions in their most recent matchups, and said, "There are a lot of teams that struggle against those guys. They’re not easy to stop, and there’s a reason for that. Look, we know we’ve got our hands full, but we’re going to have a plan in place."
The favorite to win Offensive Rookie of the Year, Daniels just led Washington to its best season in more than 30 years, and its first playoff win in nearly 20 years after the Commanders upset the Buccaneers in the wild card round. Daniels engineered a 10-play drive in the final 4:41 to set up the game-winning field goal as time expired.
Campbell acknowledged that Daniels, who led the Commanders in both passing and rushing this year, is "dangerous" and "poses a major threat" to Detroit's defense: "He does not play the position like a rookie quarterback."
"He’s composed, he understands how to progress, he sees the field well, he buys time with his legs, he’s a dangerous runner, he’s smart," Campbell said. "You can tell he understands how to run that offense, what they’re asking him to do, and then he’s got weapons."
There's really no stopping a player of Daniels' ability. The Lions would like to believe they have the athletes to at least corral him. It demands discipline, too, because as Campbell noted, "you can’t rush these guys the same as you do somebody that’s just a pure pocket passer." Maybe most of all, it requires stamina, especially for the defensive backs who have to cover receivers on extended routes when Daniels escapes the pocket and tries to make off-script throws downfield.
Same for the defensive linemen, who have to rush with integrity snap after snap in an effort to hem Daniels in: "You've got to stay in your gap, you’ve got to close down, you’ve got to just continue to push, you can’t take an edge -- that takes an enormous amount of discipline," Campbell said.
"And the toll it takes on you, physically, in a game, I mean, all you guys that have run the quarter in high school, you ran the 400 or the 800, that’s what that’s like. It’s an all-out, legs burning, get ready to throw up -- you’ve got to do that every time, keep him corralled. And no different than the guys who have to cover. You may have to cover for six seconds, seven seconds. That’s the problem these guys create. It doesn’t mean it’s easy, but it doesn’t mean that it’s not doable," Campbell said. "It is doable.”
Daniels threw 25 touchdowns to nine picks and had a passer rating of 100.1 this season. He also rushed for 891 yards -- a rookie quarterback record -- and six touchdowns. He presents a lot of questions, indeed. It will fall on Aaron Glenn and his defense to come up with the answers Saturday night in Detroit.
"AG’s going to have a hell of a plan, our guys are going to execute it," Campbell said. "And you know what, he may make a run, he may pop a run or two. That’s just the nature of the game and the way that some of these guys are able to maneuver, but that doesn’t mean that they win the game.”