Dan Campbell had a distinct viewpoint following the Lions’ 38-6 loss to the Ravens in Week 7.
In the wake of the loss, the third-year coach didn’t try to put lipstick on a pig.During his postgame press conference, Campbell stated plainly, “They kicked our ass,” according to ESPN.
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But despite that, Campbell admitted that the Lions “probably needed” the loss.
Why? because the squad was receiving a lot of attention with its stellar 5-1 start, and this loss can act as a type of reality check for the team.
“You don’t want these to happen but when it does, it recenters you, it refocuses you,” Campbell said. “And I only know that. I’d prefer that not to occur. Nobody desires it to occur. Because they kicked our ass, no one wants to see them enjoying themselves over there.
Campbell makes a valid point, and it’s a given that strong teams frequently recover from humiliating defeats. But given Detroit’s performance on Sunday, few would blame the Lions’ supporters for feeling pessimistic.
Both ends of the field saw the Lions struggle greatly, but their defensive play was especially alarming. Lamar Jackson had his greatest performance of the year, scoring four touchdowns—three through the air and one through the ground—while completing 21 of 27 throws for 357 yards. Jackson had not been that effective with the ball since his 442-yard, four-touchdown game against the Colts in 2021.
Jackson’s strong performance was praised by Campbell, although Campbell criticized the Lions’ attention to detail.
Lamar defeated us. He hit us hard with his arm. We didn’t handle it properly, but he threw the ball very well and rushed when he had to,” Campbell said. “Our energy was good, which is ridiculous when you look at the score after a game like that. However, our detail and discipline, which have been excellent for the past four or five weeks, were not sufficient, so self-induced.
“That was a lot of different things coming together, and just as we win as a team, we lose as a team. One of those was that.
Lamar Jackson destroys the Lions defense in a decisive Ravens victory.
Nevertheless, despite all of the problems that
Perhaps this explains why Campbell and his group exude confidence that they will be prepared to rebound when they face the Raiders in Week 8 on “Monday Night Football.”
According to ESPN, quarterback Jared Goff remarked, “We’ve been through a whole lot worse than this.” This squad has seen a lot of adversity, so this is kind of our first experience this year getting kicked in the teeth, and we need to react in the proper way. “This was a rough game, we got our butts kicked.
