DETROIT (WXYZ) — There were several things that went into the Lions loss to the Seahawks, but Dan Campbell had a few big takeaways: protecting the football and being more reliable on defense.
"No one likes to lose, we don’t like to lose," said Campbell. "But I think it centers your focus."
Starting with the pass rush, Campbell said they just have a higher standard than what he saw against Seattle. He didn’t name names, but he didn’t need to. The guys he’s looking to, they know who they are.
"The discipline to do your job and trust that the guy next to you is going to do his," said Campbell. "Defensively, we need our most reliable guys to be reliable. That’s the biggest thing that came out of that game."
The next biggest thing for Dan Campbell, protecting the football at all costs.
"It’s contagious in a bad way, we gotta stop the bleeding," said Campbell.
The Lions had three turnovers, two were killers. David Montgomery fumbled on the first drive of the second half. Jared Goff’s fourth quarter pick six broke a streak of 383-attempts without an interception.
"The football, your life depends on it," said Campbell. "Your teammates' life depends on it. At all costs, you must protect the football. Just saying it isn’t going to do it. Until we get that cleaned up, it will be a hard road."
A hard road, but a long road. The Lions weren’t going to go undefeated. Losses would come. Their first in game two, with 15 games left, as Campbell puts it, to recenter that focus.
"What is important is what’s in front of you, the opponent in front of you, how you play your own game, your own execution. And not worrying about anything that doesn’t have anything to do with that," said Campbell. "I think that’s what a loss does it forces you to do that."
Unfortunately injuries were also a part of the loss. David Montgomery is day-to-day dealing with a thigh bruise. James Houston will be out for a while with a fibula injury. On the offensive line, Taylor Decker is improving, but Halapoulivaati Vaitai could be out for a little bit, but Campbell will provide more this week.
