Detroit Lions: Everyone needs to show improvement after 0-4 start
By Robert Jones
Did the Lions get the confidence kicked out of them?
There was an incredible lack of concentration in Chicago. The Lions talked about cleaning things up but instead, they just shot themselves in the foot over and over again.
Now make no mistake about it, the Bears are a good defensive team. It’s not like the offense just completely gave the game away. The Chicago defense did everything they could to press the issue.
However, mental lapses like the snap that surprised Jared Goff, bounced off his chest, and landed in the waiting arms of the Bears defense are every bit as much of a gut-wrenching blow as Tucker’s field goal.
Obviously, the continual fourth-down attempts in the red zone that amounted to no points didn’t help either.
Heading into Chicago, Jared Goff had played above the expectations of most fans. As a matter of fact, I even heard some saying that Goff looks like the answer at quarterback. Despite his prolific second half against the Bears, he still made some poor throws, including the final fourth-down pass, and lost two fumbles.
If Goff is going to be the answer, he has to play his best when it matters the most. Anything shy of that means he isn’t your franchise quarterback. However, the Lions could do much worse.
While the offense had its share of miscues and more, the defense was awful.
The front seven couldn’t stop the run at all, the pass rush was pretty much absent, and once again the Lions’ defense made a rookie quarterback look like an All-Pro.
The strength of the Lions’ defense is the defensive line. It didn’t play like it. The linebackers were inconsistent and the Bears suspect offensive line looked like world-beaters. Any progress that was made against the Baltimore Ravens was gone just like that. Almost like any confidence they had started to build was kicked out of them.
Like a 66-yard field goal.
However, while the players are not that talented and made plenty of mistakes, the problems didn’t stop there. Dan Campbell and his staff deserve their share of the blame too.