Detroit Lions embarrassed in New England
The Detroit Lions weren’t expected to be Super Bowl contenders coming into the 2022 NFL regular season, but fans were hoping they’d be a better team than in recent years. Entering Dan Campbell’s second season as the team’s head coach, the franchise was supposed to show signs of progress but unfortunately that hasn’t really been the case thus far.
On Sunday, the Lions hit a new low, falling to the New England Patriots 29-0 at Gillette Stadium. While playing in New England is never an easy task, there is no excuse for failing to put up a single point on the scoreboard.
“Look, you just you be honest with them,” Campbell said when questioned by members of the media following the blowout, via SI.com. “You tell them exactly what it is. To me, it’s about as bad as it gets. This is the worst. This is where we’re at. And sometimes, it’s going to get bad before it gets better and, I believe we hit rock bottom. So now, the only place to go is back up.”
The Lions failed to convert on fourth down multiple times, which Campbell also acknowledged was one of the low points for the squad during the game.
“We weren’t good enough,” Campbell said, when asked about not converting on fourth down. “That’s an area we’ve been pretty good. And, I mean, when you’re not able to convert those, you’re going to struggle offensively. So, too many times we weren’t efficient enough on first down. I did think we got some manageable downs, but we just we couldn’t convert them. It was one of those days. Our offense has been pretty steady, you know, played pretty well. And, this was the day we we didn’t do well. We really never got in a true rhythm, and we couldn’t convert so we could stay on the field.”
Detroit haven’t made the playoffs since 2016 and even worse, haven’t won a postseason contest since 1991. Fans are desperate to see the team find success but have been left frustrated following the Lions’ recent performances. After beating the Washington Commanders in week two of the season, supporters were starting to feel good about their club, but those feelings have now dissipated.
Detroit now find themselves with a 1-4 record heading into their bye week, with a trip to Dallas to play the Cowboys awaiting them in week seven. The bye week may allow them to recover some injured players though and should help them refocus on the task at hand.
“We’re going to get some guys back. I got to look at everything top to bottom, which I have time to do for the bye week,” Campbell said. “And, look, I’ve seen it too many times. I’ve been in this league too long as a player and a coach. I’ve seen teams that started out rocky and it’s doom and gloom, and then all of a sudden, they win one and then they win the next one and then they win the next one (after that).”
Only time will tell if the Lions are able to bounce back and salvage the season, but it isn’t looking promising for fans of the franchise.
