The Detroit Lions may be sporting a respectable 8-3 win-loss record although some believe that they have reached their peak and are regressing.
After racking up three straight wins, the Lions dropped their last assignment against the Green Bay Packers, 29-22, last Thursday, November 23. They are on a bye week, head coach Dan Campbell is likely to check out what went wrong in that last game.
Their offense wasn’t exactly in tune and their defense wasn’t exactly excellent as well, held without a sack against the Packers. It was the fourth time this NFL season that Detroit was held without a sack per DetroitLions.com.
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Regardless, the Lions don’t need to make any drastic changes although they could address some of the flaws. Here are some of the things that the Lions will have to address to make sure their NFL playoff hopes don’t fizzle.
Lions need to protect the ball better
Against the Packers, Jared Goff accounted for three fumbles. Although they won over the Chicago Bears, he also had three interceptions in that 31-26 win.
Goff is an integral part of the offensive line of the Lions, one of the top-ranked units in the NFL right now. However, the Lions offense is more likely to sputter if the 29-year-old play-caller is unable to tone down on his errors and decision-making moving forward.
So far, Goff has been pressured on 45% of his drop-backs (nine of 20) in the first half and has rarely had enough time to find open targets per ESPN Stats & Info.
The defense needs to hold up
Although they are an 8-3 record team, the Lions need to make sure that their defense holds up. After making key defensive stops early in the season, their last couple of games showed some sort of regression, Peter King pointed out in his column, “Football Morning in America” via NBC Sports.
"They’ve given up 29.0 points per games over the last five games. The massive comeback against Chicago may have been a mirage," the scribe wrote.
In their last five games, the Lions defense has allowed 38, 14, 38, 26 and 29 points. The lack of consistent pressure on the defensive end is noticeable in those losses, something Campbell may need to address as early as now.
Campbell, Lions must avoid complacency
The Lions have undoubtedly played well to this point and their recent loss to the Packers may just be a minor speed bump. Campbell is aware of their shortcomings but remains confident that he has the right guys that can resolve their sporadic success,
"I know what it looks like, and we've been good enough out there, but I'm not panicked. We got the right guys who know how to play. We're going to clean some things up, and we'll have six (games) to go when we get back. And the fight is on now. I mean, they think these are going to be some cruise control. We're going to have to fight and scratch and fight and claw for everything, man. We have to. That's the type of team we are. That's where we're at," Campbell said via NFL.com.
The Lions can put a lid on these concerns when they face the New Orleans Saints on December 3. Detroit is a 3.5-point spread favorite over New Orleans. The Moneyline for this matchup is -185 for the Lions and +150 for the Saints per BetMGM Sportsbook via AZ Central.
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