The Detroit Lions rode a surge of momentum into their Week 7 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens.
After a 38-6 shellacking, they departed M&T Bank Stadium determined to right the wrongs that befell them. It was their first loss since Week 2 and halted their four game win streak.
The loss came as a result of many lapses in execution. When asked whether the defeat came as a byproduct of execution or game-planning, Dan Campbell provided, "execution," without hesitation.
Additionally, the team was without multiple starters. Among them was Jerry Jacobs, who was a late addition to the injury report and ruled out after a pregame workout Sunday.
Despite the struggles in his absence, Campbell wouldn't point to the setback as an excuse.
“The only thing is those guys don’t get all of those reps, the prep reps, like Jerry (Jacobs) got. Jerry got a majority of them. All those guys get some reps," Campbell said. "Will (Harris) got some. Will got a couple but ultimately, he goes out there and starts for us. It’s never going to be like when the starter is able to get them. However, I’ll say this, I didn’t bat an eye with Will (Harris) going outside. I trust Will. He’s going to go out there and compete. He’s going to battle, and he did that. You don’t want it to happen, but it is what it is, and we were ready. So, no, you don’t want it to be the day before the game or the day of the game, but it happened. Thank goodness we’ve got Will (Harris), and we will activate (Steven) Gilmore, and we go.”
For as good as the defense has been early in the season, major flaws were exposed. This will likely lead Brad Holmes and his staff to examine areas to improve ahead of next week's trade deadline.
Here are the best and worst PFF grades for the Lions from Sunday's game:
Highest PFF-graded offensive players
Lowest PFF-graded offensive players
Highest PFF-graded defensive players
Lowest PFF-graded defensive players
More must-reads:
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