The best thing to happen to the Lions last year may have been their worst loss of the season, a 44-6 drubbing by the Eagles at home on Halloween. It dropped their record to 0-8 and "forced us to make changes on both sides of the ball," Dan Campbell said Monday.
"We had to do things differently because where we were going wasn't going to cut it," Campbell said.
In particular, Campbell took over play-calling from then-offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn and promoted then-tight ends coach Ben Johnson to passing game coordinator. Jared Goff and Detroit's offense responded by playing much better football in the second half of the season.
"A blessing in disguise, I guess," said Campbell. "You make the most of something that's a negative, you turn it into a positive and I felt like we did that to a certain extent."
Now, with Johnson running an offense that's poised to make noise and the Eagles coming back to town for the season opener on Sunday, the Lions have a change to avenge 44-6.
"You remember it," Goff said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket. "We have different teams this year, but certainly we remember they came to our place and laid it on us last year and certainly we owe them one. At the same time, we have to prepare just like any other game and get ready to go and I know we will, but yeah, there may be a little bit of extra juice ready to go for them."
Not that the score of last year's game is plastered around the Lions' facility, but Campbell acknowledged Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket that "there is a motivation factor in the fact there are enough players here that tasted that last year."
"And I think what it says is, this team that we're getting ready to play is capable of embarrassing you. So you better be on it, we better be on our details, we better be ready to go because if not, this team will rub our face in it like they did last year," Campbell said.
Goff looks like a different quarterback in Johnson's offense, more like the two-time Pro Bowler who once took the Rams to the Super Bowl. This is no coincidence after Johnson spent the offseason watching film of Goff's best seasons in LA and then collaborating with him in crafting Detroit's offense to "help him have the best season of his career" in 2022.
"The offense that we've put in has been fun for me and it's been something that I've really settled into," Goff said Tuesday. "Ben has been constantly communicating with me about what I like and what he likes and how he sees things, and that constant communication between us has grown and allowed me to play with confidence and play fast."
Goff said he and Johnson are "meshing what I've done in my past and what I've had success with, with stuff that he's had success with as a coach and finding the perfect balance of that." The Lions want to run the ball behind a strong offensive line and then air it out with the play-action pass.
"And it'll be continual as we go through the season," Goff said of their collaboration. "I'll give him 10 ideas and he may only use one, and there's no feelings hurt. He's the coach and makes those decisions. He also knows that if I come up with an idea, it's probably something that I'm going to make work. And that's always what you want to be able to do as a quarterback."
Other highlights from Goff's interview on 97.1 The Ticket:
On T.J. Hockenson becoming an elite tight end: "I absolutely see that out of him. He's been his harshest critic, which has been the best part to see. I think what will help this year more than anything is having more targets around him, guys that can take a little attention away from him. That'll be huge for him and me. He doesn't need to be the primary target on everything. The tight end never is. Even the best tight ends you see in the league are rarely No. 1 in the (quarterback's) progression. So letting him play tight end this year and really just thrive in that role will be huge. I think you will see him bloom into what you hope he can be and what I think he will be."
On defensive teammates who have caught his eye: "I really like what both corners have been doing, Amani (Oruwariye) and (Jeff) Okudah. I felt like Okudah was having a great camp last year and then unfortunately his season got cut short, and then Amani obviously had a great year last year. But both of those guys have been a challenge for us in training camp. It's made us better and it's been fun to see them thrive and to see Okudah get his confidence back and play the way he's been playing. And then up-front, (Aidan) Hutchinson has a chance to be a real problem for some people, and certainly gave us issues as well."
On his experience living in Detroit: "I love the seasons. I love being out here for OTA's and experiencing the spring and how nice it is and the crisp days we're getting into right now in the fall. That's totally different than California for me. My only pet peeve is how fast people drive around here. It's crazy. On Southfield and some of these freeways around here, they ain't waiting for you. They're going around you and everyone's in a hurry."
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