Campbell still believes in Lions defense despite poor performance against Seahawks

DETROIT (AP) — Dan Campbell strongly believes the Detroit Lions still have the strong defense they showed in the first three games of the season.

He admits, though, it didn’t show up in Monday night’s 42-29 win over the Seattle Seahawks.

“I don’t believe what we saw yesterday is our defense,” Campbell said. “It was not our best performance, I don’t think anybody’s saying that. I thought Geno (Smith) played a hell of a game, but we can be much better. We need to be much better.”

The Seahawks put up 516 total yards, with Smith throwing for 395 yards and running for 38 more. Kenneth Walker III had 116 combined yards and three touchdowns while DK Metcalf caught seven passes for 104 yards.

Seattle set an NFL record with 38 first downs in a loss, and penalties cost the Lions another 101 yards. Starting cornerbacks Carlton Davis III and Terrion Arnold were called for pass interference or holding seven times, something that has plagued Arnold through the first four games of his career.

“Twelve penalties is a lot,” Campbell said Monday night. “Carlton was battling a good receiver — a physical receiver — so we needed to be physical as well. We have to clean it up — we can’t survive 12 penalties every game — so we will keep working on our craft.”

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The Lions did have two takeaways, with Davis contributing a 49-yard fumble return that helped the Lions take an early 14-0 lead. Kerby Joseph clinched the game with an interception in the end zone with 1:06 left.

“We got the takeaways and we stopped them on downs near the end,” Campbell said. “That’s what we talk about with resiliency.”

What’s working

After Jared Goff threw 55 times in a Week 2 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Lions have gotten back to his strength — hitting receivers with short passes and giving them room to run. In wins against the Arizona Cardinals and Seahawks, he has completed 36 of 41 passes (87.8%) for 491 yards.

That’s 13.6 yards per completion, but it includes 8.8 yards after the catch. In Monday night’s 18-for-18 performance, 215 of his 292 yards came after the reception.

What needs help

The Seahawks have played at Ford Field in each of the past three seasons and averaged just under 500 yards while going 2-1. No other team has picked up 500 yards in Detroit in that stretch, but someone is going to figure out Smith’s secret.

Stock up

Chants of “JAR-ED GOFF” have been ringing out everywhere since Detroit’s postseason run in January. In the past week, it was used as the Tigers were about to clinch their first playoff spot in 10 years and as Michigan tried to hold on against Minnesota.

Now he’s had a perfect game and caught a touchdown pass on “Monday Night Football.” His stock is higher than it has been in a long time.

Stock down

The secondary has struggled. Safety Brian Branch should return from illness after the bye week, but there isn’t anyone pushing Arnold and Davis for the starting cornerback positions.

Injuries

The Lions came through the Seattle game without any significant injuries and now go into the bye week with a chance for players to recover.

Key number

4 — Teammates who have thrown touchdown passes to each other in the same game. Goff and St. Brown joined Blake Bortles and Marqise Lee (Jaguars, 2016), Jim McMahon and Walter Payton (Bears, 1985) and another Lions duo, Gary Danielson and James Jones in 1984.

Next steps

Use the bye week to figure out a solution for the secondary and cheer for the Tigers against the Astros. If the Tigers advance to the ALDS, it will be the first time since 1935 that they and the Lions hosted playoff games in the same year.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL