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    • Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell secured the victory against the Texans.
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    Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell secured the victory against the Texans.

    Pabio Posted on

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    It was absolutely crazy.

    Not just how the Detroit Lions came back from the dead and beat the Houston Texans Sunday evening, 26-23stunned.

    But how did it happen?

    How Lions coach Dan Campbell seemed to have made it happen.

    “How do you make this happen?” » NBC reporter Melissa Stark asked Campbell Sunday night, coming out of halftime.

    “Like I told the team, it’s one game at a time,” Campbell said on the NBC broadcast.

    GAME HISTORY: Detroit Lions overcome five Jared Goff interceptions to beat Houston, 26-23

    At the time, the Lions were in trouble, getting spanked by the Houston Texans, 23-7. Jared Goff had three interceptions, although to be fair one of them came late in the half, a Hail Mary pass that was recovered, which really doesn’t count in my book.

    “We’re doing pretty well defensively,” Campbell continued on NBC. “We just give up a play here and that gets them there. But really, we need to wake up on offense. We do not convert. We won’t get first downs. …and so we have to get it back. We’re just not playing well as a team right now.

    Campbell had this rapid-fire intensity, as if this interview was just an extension of his halftime speech.

    “What do you want to see from your defense in the second half? » Stark asked.

    “Look, we have a mistake here, there,” he said. “If we remove that, everything will be fine. And then we have to have takeout. There are a few takeaways for our defense to remember. We’re not going to understand everything at once here. So just one at a time. We will.

    Read it carefully: Campbell called for “a few” takeaways.

    Then, just as the interview aired, Carlton Davis III threw an interception.

    His first of the match.

    Too wild, right?

    Only there was one problem – Goff followed it with his fourth interception.

    So, Campbell sent his defense back onto the field and his directive could barely be heard: Go get another one.

    And they did. So Davis got another one.

    Talk about it, Dan!

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    Then, finally, the offense woke up, cutting the deficit to 23-13.

    But then? Oh my God, make it stop – Goff threw his fifth interception.

    Simply put, you can’t win a game when you throw five picks. Or rather, you should not Always be in a game when you have five turnovers. The Lions didn’t have to win this game. So be it.

    But somehow, surprisingly, this team still had a chance.

    Third Down Problems

    For just a second, put those interceptions aside — and that’s not easy to do — because the other major problem was third down.

    Through the first three quarters, of the Lions’ first 11 possessions, six of them ended with three-and-outs and two more ended after just two plays and an interception.

    Now here’s the crazy thing.

    It was a priority this week for the Lions.

    “We really need to clean up those three-and-outs right now, that’s a big point for us this week,” Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said Thursday.

    Obviously, they did not prepare well enough.

    The Lions knew this could be a problem because Houston’s defense was particularly difficult on third-and-long.

    “I think that would attest to third-and-7 at -10 this week. I have, let’s call it 27 clips on my cut-up, only three conversions and eight sacks,” Johnson said. “I really haven’t seen anything like this, so they do a phenomenal job, not just on third down, but throughout. This is a team that thrives on creating negative plays, and they start from the start .”

    Yes, they knew this was going to happen.

    And they couldn’t fix it.

    So you combine third-down struggles and turnovers and you fall into a giant hole.

    The Lions continued to fight

    But the Lions defense held up.

    I kept giving them a chance.

    Brian Branch played like an absolute beast. He was seemingly everywhere, knocking down balls, flying around the field, making tackles. Keep them in this game.

    Fast forward to the start of the fourth quarter.

    Houston still held a 23-13 lead, but the Lions made the right call.

    They handed the ball to David Montgomery and Amon-Ra St. Brown, who made a move into the end zone.

    Now, Houston’s lead was cut to 23-20.

    And this game has turned again. Suddenly it turned into a penalty shootout competition.

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    Lions kicker Jake Bates made a 58-yard field goal to tie the game.

    And Houston kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn missed in the 58th.

    This gave the Lions the ball with a chance to win it.

    But alas, it came down to a third game.

    They faced a third-and-6 from the Texans 48. This time, they converted. This time, Goff hit St. Brown.

    How ironic. When they absolutely needed a third down, they got it.

    And then Bates hit a 52-yarder for the magical victory, 26-23.

    And he was carried off the field like a hero.

    Was this a warning sign?

    No.

    It’s just a dose of reality. You will struggle if you fail to convert on the third try.

    You will have even more trouble if you turn it over.

    But there were far more positives than negatives.

    Credit this defense for keeping this team in the game.

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    Give credit to Bates, a guy who came out on top. But we also have to thank the coaches for the way they prepared him for this moment.

    Credit Goff for staying in there, taking a hit, refusing to give up, despite the interceptions and mistakes, and playing when he absolutely had to.

    But above all, thank you to Campbell for giving birth to this project.

    For giving them the road map.

    A map from one of the most amazing and realistic games I have ever seen.

    CContact Jeff Seidel: [email protected]. Follow him on @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.

    Pabio
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