Missed Opportunities Sink Lions' Chances in Season Opener
Missed opportunities galore defined the Detroit Lions' 2021 season-opening contest, with new head coach Dan Campbell at the helm.
For much of the Lions' 41-33 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, it looked like the "Same Old Lions."
From dropped passes to bad tackling and blown coverage, Campbell's squad didn't do nearly enough to help itself out on Sunday.
It strengthened the impact of the already existent talent disparity between the two organizations, and made the contest hard to stomach for the tens of thousands of fans that gathered at Ford Field for the first full-capacity Lions game since 2019.
"Everything that we said we needed to do to win this game we didn't really do," Campbell said during his postgame press conference. "We were better in the second half. We gave ourselves a chance. But, it wasn't good enough."
From the jump, the Lions stubbed themselves in the proverbial toe with missed opportunities.
Detroit was gifted great field position early in the first quarter, after San Francisco starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo fumbled his first snap of the 2021 campaign.
New Lions signal-caller Jared Goff and the Detroit offense subsequently took over at the 49ers' 38-yard line.
After two consecutive positive yardage plays to open up the drive, the Lions' offense sputtered, and Goff was a major reason why.
On first-and-10 with 10:34 to play in the opening quarter, Goff took the snap out of the shotgun, and attempted a pass down the field to rookie wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. St. Brown ran a good route down the left sideline, and was clearly open. Yet, Goff overthrew him, and the pass sailed out of bounds.
An accurate downfield throw would've hit St. Brown in stride, and would've led to a big gain for Goff & Co.
Instead, Detroit ran two more plays before an errant field-goal try was attempted by first-year Lions kicker Austin Seibert. And, on the play after Goff's incomplete pass to St. Brown, Goff and second-year running back D'Andre Swift connected on a short throw that resulted in an 8-yard loss for the Lions.
Goff did finish the afternoon 38-of-57 for 338 yards and three touchdowns, to go along with one interception. But, his chemistry with his pass-catchers -- not named T.J. Hockenson -- was lacking until a valiant fourth-quarter comeback attempt was made. Goff proved to be Matthew Stafford-esque in the final quarter, throwing for a touchdown, executing two 2-point conversion attempts and helping Detroit outscore San Francisco, 16-3.
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However, the effort was a little too late, as the Lions had dug themselves too big of a hole through the first three quarters to overcome, with a 38-17 deficit entering the fourth quarter.
And missed opportunities -- like Goff's errant throw to St. Brown early in the game and the team's failed fourth-down conversion attempt on its first possession of the game -- proved to come back to haunt the Lions in their season opener.
"Look, it was two-fold. Offense, we go for it on fourth (down), and we don't get it. I'm not going to second guess that. I wanted to be aggressive. I wanted to try to find a way to get seven (points) on the board, instead of three," Campbell said. "Defense goes out there, gets a stop. Turnover, first one out. We talked about turnovers. Well, now, we have a chance to capitalize. We get in a second-and-long. Throw a screen, the timing's not good. We get blasted. We lose yards. Now, we're out of field-goal range. We make it a longer field goal. We kick, we miss. And so now, we just squandered two opportunities on offense, when we could've capitalized on what the defense did for us."
Campbell also reflected on the woes of the defense that persisted during the first three quarters.
"On the flip side, with the defense, we don't get our first stop until the third quarter," Campbell commented. "We did get the turnover, but they scored on every possession after that. So now, you're trying to stay true to who you are offensively, but now, you kind of get forced into a world that you're not in. We had tackles for losses in our run game. We're not capitalizing on third down. I think we were 27 percent. That's not good enough. And then, two-for-five on fourth (down) certainly isn't good enough. So, it was truly a team effort. And, it just got out of hand early."
There was also a variety of dropped balls by Detroit, including from Swift -- which brought back a nightmarish flashback to his drop at the end of the Lions' Week 1 contest with the Chicago Bears in 2020.
Detroit fans were forced to harken back to the 2020 season for another forgettable reason, too -- second-year cornerback Jeff Okudah's struggles in pass coverage were on full display once again.
Okudah, the No. 3 overall pick in the '20 NFL Draft, had his issues with staying in front of receivers all season long a year ago, and he ended up as one of Pro Football Focus' worst-graded defensive backs for the season.
Unfortunately, on Sunday, the Ohio State product didn't look like he learned much from his rookie struggles. He got burned, and turned around by San Francisco receiver Deebo Samuel on a 79-yard touchdown pass from Garoppolo, with 8:04 to play in the third quarter.
And, this came after Okudah was visibly yelled at by Lions defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant at the end of the first half.
It was a rough day for the second-year pro, and it culminated in him leaving the contest early with a foot injury.
And, the ailment could be worse, per Campbell. In his postgame media session, he said that Okudah's injury could end up being one of the ankle or even Achilles' variety.
"I would say for Jeff, it was an up-and-down game," Campbell noted. "He flashes on a few plays. You're like 'woah, okay, there he is.' And then, next thing you know, something happens. And I don't want to make excuses, but at the same time, he's in year two. And, he made some young errors, is what he did."
It doesn't get any easier for Campbell & Co., either, as they head into Lambeau Field next Monday night for a divisional matchup with the reigning NFC North champion Green Bay Packers.
Thus, the time is now for the Lions, despite their youth and relative inexperience on both sides of the ball, to start making the most of their opportunities.
Campbell, as a former NFL player and a longtime assistant in the league, understands such is the case, and now, he must get his team to make enough strides in a week's worth of time to make it happen on the field.
Easier said than done, and especially with a roster that isn't built for being very competitive in 2021.
I've got two words, at this point, for Detroit's new head coach: Good luck.
