Allen Park — Most teams would be delighted with 111 rushing yards and one score, especially in a crucial divisional victory over the Green Bay Packers. The Detroit Lions are not like other teams.
Against the Packers, David Montgomery ran 14 times for 51 yards and one touchdown. Jahmyr Gibbs, a running back for the Lions, contributed 15 attempts for 43 yards, which was his lowest average rush since the start of the season. Additionally, it was the first time since that Week 1 game that Gibbs had not surpassed 50 running yards.
The Lions’ ability to win without a large number of defensive players, however, was the main topic of discussion. The team’s ability to win in spite of their rushing attack’s underwhelming performance seemed to most impress Dan Campbell.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell stated, “There are things that we have to do a little bit better.” In addition to turning the ball over, we also had poor efficiency, a poor run game, a lack of explosives that we believe we should have every week, and poor short yardage. There were also too many MAs (missed assignments) in third and fourth-and-short. We completed the plays we had to, but there are still some things we can tidy up.
Having saying that, we offensively placed ourselves in some of the predicaments we found ourselves in. We can improve on certain areas and simply tidy up a few things.
With the Buffalo Bills arriving in Week 15, they are aware that things must improve, particularly at this time of year. When the NFL’s top two scoring offences square up, every explosive play will be needed. After being pounded for 137 rushing yards and three touchdowns against the Los Angeles Rams, Buffalo’s defence is currently ranked 26th in the league in terms of yards allowed per attempt (4.7). And after playing four games in eighteen days, just finished a mini-bye weekend? For a Lions team that is dedicated to the rushing attack and working to keep each of its best horses as fresh as possible, that is excellent news.
The team’s running backs coach and associate head coach, Scottie Montgomery, stated that everyone needs a vacation like that and that the weekend of recuperation was crucial. However, the emphasis is still on returning to high-level output and aiming for exceptional rather than good.
We got to find a way to get those explosives,” Scottie Montgomery said. “And then, when there is a 4-yard run there, you got to be able to get 5 yards, right? And that is the detail that we’re going to try to stay on. As far as our details, our details are always pretty consistent. But we want to make sure that we’re tracking out the way we need to so our paths are correct.
“I believe that will be resolved. It’s the norm. To put it simply, many people would remark, “Man, you guys got 100 yards.” Excellent. Well, we have high standards here, and good is the enemy. And the things that we don’t do as well as we would like to have been magnified. And for that reason, we’re fixing it. Our O-line is where they are because of this. However, we must improve upon last week’s performance.