The Detroit Lions won the Week 10 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, but the 41-38 triumph wasn’t easy. Detroit’s defense got gashed for five straight touchdowns after starting out well.
The lack of a pass rush was a primary factor. Other than Aidan Hutchinson, who logged three QB pressures and three other hits on Justin Herbert, the rush was nearly nonexistent. Detroit did not sack Herbert once.
Head coach Dan Campbell was asked about the ineffective work from the defensive front. Campbell zeroed in on the technique and coordination of the rush and coverage.
“Yeah, look, I go back to some of this is, we’ve got to really hone in on our technique with where we’re at. We’ve got a lot of things that are schemed up that we can be better at, the execution of it,” Campbell said of the pass rush.
Blitzing linebacker Alex Anzalone worked early, but the Lions got away from that later. The lack of success clearly frustrated Campbell.
“We had a number of different pressures and games that we had lined up in the second down, third down, that we just weren’t getting there fast enough and it was,” Campbell said. “We talk about all the time, the rush into coverage, and it was we’re covering pretty good and then man, we’re just not quite getting there and so (Chargers WR Keenan Allen) 13, we’ve got him doubled, well, he’s able to run through the double because we’re not getting there fast enough.”
That has ripple effects, as Campbell noted,
“And then on the flip side, we’re getting there, but we’re not tight enough in coverage. So, we’ve just got to get them to mirror up and we’re got to keep working our technique, man. We’ve got to win our one-on-ones when they show up upfront, and really, even in the backend, too. When those times present themselves, we have to win a one-on-one. Certainly, more than we did yesterday.”
Campbell seems confident the Lions pass rush will bounce back against the Bears in Week 11.
“It’s been something we’ve been pretty good at,” Campbell told reporters. “We played – we bounced back, played pretty good against the Raiders, played damn good. So, we will bounce back from this and we’ll get it right.”