The Lions came away from their Week 3 win over the Jets with a big night from Jared Goff and a game-changing defensive play from Chuck Clark, and both moments told the same story: Detroit stayed patient, stayed sharp, and finished when it mattered.
Goff was efficient throughout the 31-24 victory, going 25 of 32 for 269 yards and two touchdowns. Afterward, he talked about the way Detroit has handled defenses that are sitting on the deep ball and forcing the offense to work underneath.
“I think I’ve done a good job of being disciplined and not getting frustrated, I guess, with the lack of deep throws,” Goff said, via Eric Woodyard of ESPN. “It’s not that we’re not calling them. It’s just that they’re playing with so much depth, and it’s my job to not get frustrated and stay within myself and take the checkdowns, and I have, and it’s been good.”
On the other side of the ball, Clark’s strip-sack on Jets quarterback Geno Smith late in the game helped seal it. Lions head coach Dan Campbell singled out defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard for the call and the trust behind it.
“That was an outstanding call by him. I’m proud of him,” Campbell said.
“It takes a lot of intestinal fortitude to hang in there and trust and believe in what you do, and your guys, what we’re about and trust them to bring it to life and then they did it. That was awesome.”
In Green Bay, the conversation is about protecting Jordan Love and getting the offense back on track. The Packers’ line has been under pressure during a 1-2 start, with Love being sacked 31 times and the team ranking No. 31 in pressure percentage allowed. Matt LaFleur believes the veteran additions up front can steady things.
“These guys have played a lot of football, so you know they know how to play the game, and you know the game’s not too big for them,” LaFleur said, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. “ There’s going to be a learning curve there.”
Laken Tomlinson sees his role in straightforward terms: bring some stability and edge to the group.
“I feel like I can come in and provide some stability, some toughness, some leadership, as well,” Tomlinson said. “Obviously going into Year 12, I’ve played a lot of ball.
I feel like I still got a lot left in the tank. I feel like I can bring a lot to the team.”
Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich still views Green Bay as an “explosive offense,” but he said the unit drifted away from its identity in Week 3’s loss to the Falcons.
“We have an explosive offense. We really do,” Stenavich said.
“But we just got to make sure we run our offense. That was the thing.
We didn’t do that Thursday. We’ve had a lot of hard conversations, some really productive conversations.
I’ll just leave it at that. But we just need to run our offense.”
In Minnesota, Justin Jefferson’s left ankle injury remains the main concern after he exited in Week 3’s win over Tampa Bay and did not return. The Vikings wideout was close to making it back onto the field, but Kevin O’Connell said the ankle still wasn’t ready for the kind of coverage Jefferson draws every snap.
“I just know that he was pretty close to coming back in,” O’Connell said, via ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. “He just couldn’t get there.
He’s such an explosive player, and the way he gets defended, he needs to be able to have [his legs] getting off the line, press coverage, all those things. He just couldn’t quite get there.
I know he was trying like crazy, and it was killing him not to get back out there.”
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The bigger question is how the Vikings keep balancing Paces strengths with the parts of his game theyre still trying to protect him from. He has shown he can help change a passing series, but the coaching staff also appears intent on limiting his exposure against the run. For now, that leaves Pace in a familiar and awkward middle ground: too effective to ignore, but not quite locked into a full-time role, which is exactly the kind of snap-count debate that can linger deep into a season. [Read more 🡒]
J.J. McCarthy Report Adds Tension To Vikings Quarterback Transition
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What makes the situation worth watching is the potential for that kind of reaction to affect the transition Minnesota has been managing behind the scenes. Teams can survive a backup quarterback stint if everyone stays aligned, but any hint of frustration or jealousy can complicate the handoff once the starter is ready again, and the Vikings may have more to sort through than just the depth chart. [Read more 🡒]