Detroit Lions suffer defensive letdown loss to Baltimore Ravens 38-6
Carlos Monarrez joins Shawn Windsor and Shawn’s son, Sam, from Shawn’s home to discuss the Detroit Lions’ tough loss to the Ravens.
BALTIMORE — Lamar Jackson gave the Detroit Lions their most thorough butt-kicking of the season on Sunday, and Lions coach Dan Campbell promised it’s something his team will be better for.
“Ultimately, things happen for a reason,” Campbell said. “The good Lord never gives us anything that we can’t handle, and so we probably needed it.”
Jackson threw for a season-high 357 yards and accounted for four touchdowns as the Baltimore Ravens handed the Lions their second-most lopsided loss of the Campbell era, 38-6, at M&T Bank Stadium.
The Lions (5-2) had won four straight by double-digits and entered the week tied for the best record in the NFL. On Sunday, they had no answer for Jackson or a Ravens offense that pounded them on the ground and flummoxed them through the air.
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Jackson threw three touchdown passes, two to Mark Andrews, and scored on a 7-yard run as the Ravens (5-2) racked up 503 yards of offense and led, 28-0, before the Lions had a first down.
The Lions’ only worse defeat in Campbell’s 41 games as head coach came on Halloween 2021, when they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, 44-6.
“They just kicked our ass,” left tackle Taylor Decker said. “It is what it is, but it’s not going to change what we’re about. Obviously, we’ve got a lot to clean up. We’ll see what the film says, ultimately, but that’s not going to change the mentality of this team. It’s a 17-game season. It’s one game. You hate to have those games, but even Coach said at some point it was going to be inevitable that we were going to stumble. We could’ve stumbled in a win, but we stumbled in a loss, which is embarrassing.”
The Lions went three-and-out on their first three possessions, never found a rhythm offensively and had their worst defensive performance of the season against the game’s most unique quarterback.
Jackson, the 2019 NFL MVP, sidestepped pressure and slipped sacks, extending countless plays with his feet. He threw his first touchdown pass on a play that took almost 10 seconds to develop and finished the day 21 of 27 passing.
“They kicked our ass,” Campbell said. “Lamar beat us. He hammered us with his arm. He threw the ball extremely well. He ran when he needed to, and we did not handle it well. Our energy was good, which is crazy. You come out of a game like that and you look at the score, our energy was good. But our detail and discipline, which has been so good over the last four or five weeks, was not good enough.”
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Asked why the Lions needed a loss like that, Campbell said “it re-centers you, it refocuses you.”
“I don’t want it to happen,” he said. “Nobody wants it to happen. Nobody likes to look over there and watch them having a great time because they kicked our ass. Nobody thinks that’s fun, but I know that motivates me for next week, it motivates our team. So I know that you’ll do any and everything you can not to have that feeling again.”
The Ravens had 10 plays of 20 or more yards Sunday and finished with 146 yards on 27 carries a Lions defense that entered the week ranked seventh in total defense and first against the run.
Jackson marched the Ravens down the field on the game’s opening possession and scored on a 7-yard keeper on fourth-and-1, then gave Baltimore a 14-0 lead by converting three third downs, including a 12-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor, on an 11-play, 68-yard scoring drive.
The Ravens had 16 first downs before the Lions picked up their first early in the second quarter, and at one point had outgained Detroit, 325 yards to 16. Before Sunday, the Lions had not allowed 100 yards rushing in a game all year.
“(Jackson) was slinging it,” Andrews said. “Man, he was on the money all day. Money Lamar. … Extending drives if he had to, but (his) ball placement was incredible.”
Jackson finished with 36 yards rushing on nine carries and Gus Edwards had 144 scrimmage yards for the Ravens, including an 80-yard catch-and-run to set up Baltimore’s fifth touchdown early in the third quarter.
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Jahmyr Gibbs, making his second start of the season in place of the injured David Montgomery, had 68 yards rushing on 11 carries and added nine catches for 58 yards for the Lions. He scored the Lions’ only touchdown, the first of his career, on a 21-yard run early in the fourth quarter.
Jared Goff finished 33 of 53 passing for 284 yards with one interception and Amon-Ra St. Brown caught 13 passes for 102 yards for the Lions, who remain alone in first place atop the NFC North heading into next week’s Monday night game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
“It’s here, it happened, it’ll motivate us moving forward,” Campbell said. “The shame would be if we don’t use this to get better for next week and it bleeds over into the Raiders. That would be the ultimate shame.”
Contact Dave Birkett at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
