Dan Campbell spent Friday’s media session looking ahead to Arizona, but he also had a moment that stopped him cold.
Less than an hour before he spoke, news broke that former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka had died at 86. A reporter told Campbell in real time, and his reaction came instantly: “No!
I didn’t know that! Oh my gosh.
Wow,” Campbell said.
That quickly turned into a story. Campbell said he met Ditka coming out of college at the NFL Combine, after hearing Ditka - then coaching the New Orleans Saints - wanted to talk with him.
Campbell described walking into a bare room with one light on, smoke hanging in the air and Ditka sitting there with a cigar. “It was one of the best times of my life and most intimidating times of my life sitting across from Mike Ditka.
It was awesome though. Just him asking questions about where you grew up, how you think, how you’re wired, the game, what you see.
It was awesome. And so, thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
He’s a legend.”
From there, Campbell shifted into the football part of the day, and his message to the Lions defense was clear. If Detroit wants to feel good about where that unit is headed before the bye week, Campbell wants three things: takeaways, pressure, and cleaner football.
He started with turnovers. “I think I’m always going to ask for multiple takeaways.
We’ve got to have multiple takeaways and certainly we need to see punch outs on the tape. Numerous punch outs, not just one or two.
We need to come out of there and say, ‘Man, we saw six, seven, eight of these punch outs.’ You’re trying to get them out.”
Next came the pass rush. “I want to see disruption on the quarterback.
(We’ve) been pretty good. Got to continue that.”
And then the part Campbell clearly has little patience for: mistakes that beat the Lions before the opponent does. “I want to eliminate the MAs [missed assignments] and dumb penalties.
Let’s cut those in half. The MEs, missed execution, or MAs, and the penalties that are just neutral zone infractions or jumping offsides or it dealt with technique.
‘I got myself in a bind because I didn’t use my help.’ Those are inexcusable.”
That discipline will matter against Arizona’s run game, especially on the outside. The Cardinals have leaned on an outside-zone scheme that has worked well beyond the tackles, while Detroit has had trouble holding up in that area. Campbell said the answer is simple in theory and brutal in practice: everybody has to fit the gap the right way.
“It really is all about fitting your gap. And let’s say you have a post safety, and the other nine guys fit it right and we have one guy that is not where he’s supposed to be.
It destroys your run defense. It absolutely destroys it.
So, they’re going to give you eye candy. They’re going to do movement.
They’re trying to make you to move just a little bit to where you get off. We do the same thing on offense ourselves.
You’re just trying to get dirty eyes and somebody not to fit it right, and that’s all it takes.
Campbell also pointed to Cardinals first-round pick Jeremiyah Love, who has been dealing with an ankle injury and has had his playing time limited while he works back to full strength. Campbell said he fully expects Love to play Sunday and said he’s seen him improve every week.
“He’s an explosive dynamic runner. He’s got vision, explosiveness, speed, and he’s really good out of the backfield,” Campbell said.
“And they’ve just scratched the surface of that. That hadn’t even opened it up yet.
That’s coming.”
In Other News...
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The timing is what makes it worth watching. Detroit has leaned on the front to steady things when other parts of the defense have been less reliable, and defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard has already pointed to the lines strong play despite those issues elsewhere. With the group still absorbing new wrinkles and juggling availability, a practice-squad addition can become relevant faster here than it would elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]
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Brissett enters the matchup as Arizonas starter, and his play this season has made him a name worth monitoring around the league. For a Detroit team that has treated quarterback insurance as a real roster priority, the appeal is obvious, especially if the Cardinals eventually decide to move in a different direction under center. Whether the Lions can do more than observe from afar is the lingering question. [Read more 🡒]
Brian Branch's Status Just Got Bigger For Detroit's Secondary
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For a secondary that has had to keep piecing things together, Branch is the kind of player whose return can change the conversation fast. The current expectation is that his first game back will come after the Week 6 bye, which lines up with Detroit heading into Week 7 and the stretch that really starts to matter in the NFC North. [Read more 🡒]