Listen, Detroit Lions pessimists: Your team doesn't stink. It just has fixable problems.
So, how about those Lio-
The Detroit Lions stink!
Hold on, just wait a second. I think you’ve lost some perspective.
They have reached their ceiling.
They are freakin’ 9-4 and in first place in the NFC North. I'll take that kind of ceiling...
Yeah, but they’ve lost two of their past three games. Good teams don’t do that.
You mean like the Philadelphia Eagles? Um, they’ve lost two of their past three.
The Eagles lost to really good teams, though: Dallas and San Francisco.
Yeah, and the 49ers lost three in a row to the Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals.
It’s apples and oranges!
No, it’s the NFL. And there is an actual reason why the Lions have hit a skid.
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Yeah, it’s Jared Goff and his small hands! He fumbled three times against the Green Bay Packers; and he threw interceptions in the first game against the Bears; and besides, that record doesn’t mean squat. They haven’t beaten anybody.
No, I’m serious. There’s an actual reason.
This is no different than Same Old…
Stop it. Don’t go there.
OK, Mr. Smarty Pants. What’s the reason?
Let me rephrase that. It’s a whole bunch of small things.
Yeah, the offense sucks right now. Amon-Ra St. Brown caught only three passes on Sunday against the Bears for just 21 yards; and the Bears shut down Sam LaPorta, who had two catches for 23. This offense has regressed.
Yep, and there’s a reason. It starts with the Lions' most basic pass plays. The bread and butter of this offense.
What do you mean?
You wanna know why the Lions are regressing offensively?
“It’s been our base-pass game,” Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said Wednesday. “Some of our staples that we have been doing in spring, training camp, and all season long, they showed up last week in particular where, ‘God, we’re just not — we’re not doing what we say, how we installed that, how we said we were going to do it, how we’ve been doing it, how we’ve got banked reps on,’ and it’s come back and bit us in the rear end.”
You wanna know what bites in the read end? Losing to the Bears.
I know, I know, but let’s let Johnson finish: “We’ve been in some second-and-longs and those second-and-longs have become third-and-longs because we haven’t executed well on second-and-longs,” Johnson said. “So, listen, it’s all fixable. These guys know — they know how we can get better and how we can improve and we’re looking forward to an opportunity to do that.”
I’m so sick of hearing "These guys can improve."
But it’s the truth. Yes, Goff can’t turn the ball over, and the offense can’t have stupid penalties — that pre-snap, boneheaded stuff that throws everything out of whack — but it starts with the base pass plays. When those staples aren’t staples anymore, everything looks ugly.
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Yeah, it’s looked ugly for a while now.
Some of that’s on the coaches. You can bash Goff for his turnovers and even his dip in production, but you have to concede some of that’s on the play-calling. And that brings me back to Johnson.
“Shoot, last week there’s a couple third-down plays where, ‘Man, there’s not a lot of good answers there for the quarterback,’” Johnson said. “And so, that’s where I’ve got to take it.”
I think it all goes back to Frank Ragnow. He’s the most valuable player on this team.
I don’t disagree with you there. The center is invaluable. Everything works better when he’s on the field. And the offensive line has been a revolving door all season — it’s hard to get to the playoffs when you change the offensive line every week.
This team won’t do anything in the playoffs — it will be one and done — if it keeps playing like this.
Again, I agree with you. But we know what this offense is capable of, and the defense has improved.
What? The Bears put up freakin’ 28 against the Lions.
Yeah, but that’s deceiving. The Bears had a short field and scored a touchdown on a five-play, 29-yard drive. And after Gamblin’ Dan went for it deep in his own territory, the Bears scored a field goal on a 20-yard drive.
Gamblin’ Dan lost his senses there.
Yeah, it seemed like a panic moment. But the defense is improving in small areas.
“All the little things that people really don’t talk about,” defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said. “For example — and I talked to our guys about it, like the sudden changes that happen. That’s a real thing in this League and I think we’re one of the better teams in that situation. And we do everything we can to get the ball back to our offense. The second thing is our run defense. Our run defense is still going at a high level. Our ability to not allow touchdowns at a high rate from outside of our red zone. The things I try to make sure I point those things out to our players.”
All that matters is how many points you give up. The Lions are giving up 24.2 points per game, which ranks 25th in the NFL.
True. But it’s improving.
“The one thing I thought we improved on from last week is our red zone," Glenn said. "And that’s one of the issues that we’ve had all year and if we continue to improve the way that we improved last week, I think we’ll be all good.”
Good? What's he talking about? This team hasn’t looked good since Baltimore.
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I’m not arguing about that. But it’s dangerous to make grand statements and generalities. Because the issues stem back to the little things, which can be fixed and improved. And it’s why I still believe in this team. It’s still the same team that was 8-2.
I just don’t know what to think about this team. I don't on’t even know how to act. It’s the middle of December and it’s in first place, but it’s not playing great.
And maybe, just maybe, that’s the best news of all. The problems are fixable, all those little things. The coaches and players have held themselves accountable. Nobody is pointing fingers, except at themselves. And while the outside world makes everything complicated, inside that building it’s pretty simple: It’s all about problems and solutions. And the problems are pretty obvious.
Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him @seideljeff.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Same Old ... Stop. This Detroit Lions team can fix their problems
