Despite loss to Rams, Lions found formula that can deliver wins

Before falling short at the end, again, the Detroit Lions found a winning formula in Sunday’s loss to the Rams.

With nothing to lose against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell let it all hang out. An onside kick attempt and recovery, and not one but two successful fake punts, helped keep the Lions in the game right to the end of a 28-19 loss.

Some will focus on continuing failures of the Lions offense in the red zone, highlighted by Jared Goff’s interception in the end zone to end a drive that could’ve given Detroit the lead in the fourth quarter.

Beyond Campbell’s giving final authority on special teams’ aggressiveness as a plan to keep the ball out of the hands of Matthew Stafford and the Rams’ offense, the Lions found a formula that should help deliver a win or two (or three…or four?) down the road.

Lions found a winning formula in loss to the Rams

A 63-yard screen pass to D’Andre Swift to open the scoring on Sunday skews the yardage numbers, and it was his first game as a Lion with two interceptions. But Goff was better then he has been this season against his former team (22-for-36 for 268 yards). On those 36 attempts, the target tree was rightfully narrow. Khalif Raymond (eight), Swift (10) and T.J. Hockenson (nine) combined for 27. Raymond topped 100 yards (115) for the second time in his career, and the first time as a Lion.

There remains a case for Jamaal Williams to see more work, on the field at same time as Swift even. But the former Packer led the Lions in rushing on Sunday (57 yards on 12 carrries), and it’s notable that he was absent from the Week 7 injury report after dealing with a hip issue for a few weeks. Williams and Swift combined for 25 carries in Sunday’s game.

Beating the Rams on the road was going to take a tactfully aggressive and virtually flawless game by the Lions. In the end, the better team didn’t make mistakes and won.

But the formula the Lions found on Sunday–a mix of aggressiveness, a defense that was up to the task against the run and an offense narrowly focused on getting the best players heavily involved, is one that will deliver a win or two when they aren’t facing one of the best teams in the NFL.