ALLEN PARK — On Thanksgiving, the Detroit Lions were overwhelming 8.5-point favorites. Not only did they lose that game, which was the second-biggest upset on Thanksgiving since 1980, but they also lost badly, falling short of the Green Bay Packers 29–22.
Dan Campbell believes the game wasn’t as ugly after giving it more thought.
However, he did pinpoint a crucial problem that keeps his top-ranked squad from winning as we approach December.
Among all the numbers by which we evaluate this game, perhaps none correlates tighter to wins and losses than turnover ratio. And right now, the Lions are checking in at minus-5 on the season, ahead of only the Falcons, Browns, Raiders, Panthers, Vikings, Patriots and Commanders — only one of which has a winning record.
Perhaps none of the metrics we use to assess this game has a stronger correlation with wins and losses than turnover ratio. As of right now, only the Falcons, Browns, Raiders, Panthers, Vikings, Patriots, and Commanders are below the Lions’ current point total of minus five for the season; only one of these teams has a winning record.
They have produced just eight picks and four fumbles this season, ranking among the bottom five teams in terms of football turnover rate. They have coughed up the football seven times in the last two games combined. Now they are doing it too. Six of them involved quarterback Jared Goff, matching his total from the eighteen games prior combined. In the thrilling victory over last-place Chicago, he threw three interceptions. Then, in the shocking defeat to Green Bay, he fumbled three times, with the Packers recovering each time and scoring a touchdown on one of them.
Goff, who began the season with the third-longest interception streak in NFL history, has seen a startling decline.
They are engaged in it.
Campbell remarked, “He knows; we’ve talked.” “And it’s the, ‘Man, once I’m starting to break the line of scrimmage, I’ve got to tuck it away,’ as I told him this morning. That’s all there is to it, and it’s something we emphasize in practice. We intend to tackle it. We won’t merely shout louder when it comes to all these little things that happen, man. We intend to deliver on our promises. Here’s where you can improve a little bit after you instruct and demonstrate for them. Everything, including the rush and the way we.
We’re not even talking about some of the offensive plays that are currently on tape because they didn’t result in a turnover that will cost us later on—rather, the ball was loose. Thus, those are the things that we must never stop highlighting. But I’m not getting concerned, man.
Their goal is to keep the football safe. They are also attempting to remove it. They’ve been preaching about it since the offseason, which is one of the main reasons they gave signing C.J. Gardner-Johnson—the league’s leading interceptions—first priority. Detroit was hoping for more picks because Kerby Joseph had just finished his rookie season with a team-high four picks.
