The Detroit Lions gambled multiple times on fourth down in a 24-14 loss to the Chicago Bears, but that isn’t something which has caused any division within the team’s locker room.
Instead, some of the main offensive combatants are standing with Dan Campbell and admitting the fault is on them and the offense for not being able to properly execute in crunch time. A pair of Lions wideouts spoke after the loss on October 3, and admitted they had no problem with the aggressiveness at all.
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Wideout Quintez Cephus spoke after the game with the media in an interview posted to DetroitLions.com, and said that the play calls were not the problem, but rather the execution of those calls by the players on the field. Cephus also admitted that he appreciates the staff for believing in the players.
“All of the plays we had called were great plays and we had guys open. I think we just have to continue to do those little things right and we’ll be able to execute,” Cephus said. “I respect coach for believing in us to get those fourth downs, third and shorts. I know we can execute, like I said, we just have to keep honing in on those small details.”
Cephus would finish with a solid 66 yards on the day, but naturally, like others, his thoughts were more about the plays the Lions were not able to make rather than the ones they did.
Small details seems to be the name of the game for the Lions, and it wasn’t just on fourth down. The team also allowed 4 sacks and lost 2 fumbles on the day, which was a big cause of the team not being able to come through in crunch time. While many folks single out the fourth downs, plenty of other issues held the team back most of the afternoon as well.
Kalif Raymond: Lions Always Feel They ‘Can Make a Play Happen’
Joining Cephus in that analysis was wideout Kalif Raymond. Though Raymond scored a pair of touchdowns in the game and had a breakout performance by his standards, the wideout was himself lamenting the inability to execute on the field and re-affirming the trust the team has in the staff in an interview posted to DetroitLions.com.
“Coach Campbell does a good job putting us in situations to go out there and execute. We didn’t execute (Sunday) but everyone trusts each other at the end of the day,” he said. “We trust (coach), (coach) trusts us, everybody else trusts each other. You want those plays to happen because you execute so much during the week. We just came up short today, but it’s definitely trust all the way around.”
That trust could lead the Lions to continue to dial those plays up in the future, and as Raymond said, the entire outfit has faith they can make a play. It’s simply a matter of making them happen.
“At the end of the day, we just go play ball. No matter what the situation is, fourth and one, fourth and two, fourth and three, I feel like as an offense we feel like we can always go out there and make a play happen,” Raymond said. “It didn’t happen (Sunday) unfortunately, but we trust each other when it comes down to those plays.”
Will Campbell continue to listen to Raymond and others and roll the dice? It bears watching in the weeks ahead when the Lions have the ball on offense.
Jared Goff Agreed With Staff’s Decision Making
From the top on down, the players clearly don’t have any division on the play calling or the aggressive nature of the staff. After the loss, Goff himself stuck to his guns and put more of the blame on himself and the team and their inability to execute rather than the play calls.
“You always want to go for it as an offense. Unfortunately we didn’t capitalize on any of them today. Obviously, it’s a different day if we do. It’s a different game and overall, all the red zone errors would have effected the game tremendously,” Goff said.
While some folks might not agree with the calls, it’s clear that the players had no problem with them being dialed up. Perhaps their biggest complaint was not being able to come through in the clutch. To that end, there doesn’t seem to be any division on this issue with the team.
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