"All of us, young players and veterans, have to strive to be more consistent," said the veteran linebacker after Detroit's 34-12 Thanksgiving Day loss to Green Bay.
The defense made a lot of good plays. Twice in the first half the Lions stopped the Packers inside the red zone and made them settle for field goals. Another time Green Bay got to the Detroit 25 and Mason Crosby misfired on a 43-yard field goal attempt.
Unfortunately for the Lions, the good plays were offset by a few long gains by Green Bay that set up three of the Packers' four touchdowns.
"We did a lot of good things out there, but it came down to them making more plays than us," Peterson said.
"They had (five) turnovers and we only caused one (a fumble on the opening kickoff). Most of the time when you lose the battle of turnovers you don't win the game. We have to find a way to cause more turnovers and get our hands on the ball."
Rookie safety
"They drove down to the red zone and didn't score," Delmas pointed out. "That was a big mental lift for us and we capitalized on it."
The red zone defense is something that the Lions have focused on this season. The opposition has been in the red zone 45 times this season and Detroit has given up 22 touchdowns.
"Our emphasis is bend but don't break," Peterson said. "We don't care how many yards a team gets. If we can keep the score within a reasonable amount, or even better no points at all, it gives the offense a much better chance to make those last-minute drives.
"We have to do our best to keep the game manageable so (the offense) doesn't have to get out of their game plan."
Peterson said that when the offense does make a big play the defense has to buckle down to limit the damage.
"When that happens we have to find a way, if not in that series, maybe the next one, to make a big play against them," Peterson said. "We have to put a dagger in them because that's deflating. We've been doing a great job on second and third down, but on third down we have to get them down."
That's the consistency that Peterson, who had a sack and a forced fumble among his seven tackles, alluded to.
"The best thing we can do is to come out and just execute," said defensive end
Detroit's front seven did a good job of stopping the run. Grant had only 61 yards in 20 carries after rushing for 129 yards in 21 attempts against San Francisco on Sunday.
"It seems like the onus has been on us each week to try to get pressure on the quarterback and to stop the run," Hunter said. "Your team only goes as far as the line, both offensively and defensively. If the pressure's on us to create pressure and stop the run, that's OK."
Although he was pleased with the way the defense contained Green Bay ground attack, Hunter wished that the Lions had made life more difficult for Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
"You don't want to let a quarterback, especially one like that have time to throw the ball," Hunter said. "That's something we'll keep working on. We've got five more games and we'll see what we can do to improve."
The Lions almost had a second turnover with just over nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, and it could have been a game-changing play.
When Delmas tackled Grant in the end zone he fumbled and it was recovered by linebacker
"That fumble for a touchdown would have changed the game," Delmas said. "It was still early in the fourth quarter."
Although he wasn't pleased with the final result, Delmas liked the effort of his defensive teammates.
"We showed a lot of pride," Delmas said. "We kept coming after them throughout the game, even though the score got away from us."
Peterson felt that a victory on the heels of Sunday's thrilling 38-37 win against Cleveland could have been a huge lift for the Lions.
"We really wanted to find a way to put two (wins) back-to-back so we could know that winning feeling and what it takes to win," Peterson said.
