INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell said Sunday he’s maintaining faith in his team, even with its odds to make the playoffs dropping to 36% following Sunday’s 41-34 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Campbell’s message to the team over its final three games is to remain confident without going “numb” to losing.
“I know we can do it. These players know we can do it,” he said. “You go back to work, man. I don’t believe for one second anybody’s lost confidence, we just know, we’re doing a good job of taking care of the ball, we’re getting some takeaways, we need to get a couple more and we’ve got to play for (four) quarters, man.”
The Lions held a 24-17 halftime lead but were shut out in the third quarter, 17-0. The defense allowed season-highs in points (41) and total yards (519).
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California native Amon-Ra St. Brown was a bright spot with 13 catches for 163 yards and two touchdowns, while fellow receiver Jameson Williams added seven receptions for 135 yards and a score. But outside of them, the offense couldn’t find much of a rhythm.
Quarterback Jared Goff, who grew up in Novato, California, was 25-of-41 passing for 338 yards and three touchdowns. He said his focus now is helping the Lions win their next three games, starting with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Dec. 21, because they’re “still in it” for the playoff hunt.
“We’re resilient, we really are. I expect us to bounce back from this and we still have plenty of stuff in front of us. We do,” he said. “And we’ve got a great group that can win a championship here, and we know that, we just have to stick together and not allow some of the narratives to pull anything apart and our captains need to step up. Our leaders need to step up and be vocal and have energy and not anything that I don’t expect us to do.
“But, yeah, we’ve got to show that resilience a few more times here.”
Detroit (8-6) hasn’t missed the postseason since 2022 but faces a tall task with games at home against Pittsburgh and then on the road against Chicago and Minnesota.
“I believe in the guys on this team. The character of the players on this team,” Campbell said. “Our captains, the core of it. And, there again, we needed to play a close to perfect game and we were not able to play perfect enough.
“We made too many errors against that team, which some other teams that would’ve been enough. It’s not against that team.”
Information from ESPN Analytics was used in this report.
