Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell spoke to the media Monday, one day after his team dropped a 41-34 contest on the road in Los Angeles to the NFC's top-seeded Rams. The loss puts the Lions in a situation where they'll have to win out to have a chance to represent the NFC in the playoffs in January.
Here are all the key questions from Campbell's Monday press conference:
What is Campbell's message to his team as they embark on a season-defining stretch of games to finish the regular season where they must go 3-0 to reach the playoffs?
"Yeah, go to work, man," he said. "Go back to work. That's the message. Don't worry about the what ifs and this. We have to win. So be it."
The Lions must beat Pittsburgh in the home finale Sunday and then win two road games in Minnesota and Chicago to end the season and get a little help along the way to reach the playoffs for a third straight year.
Campbell has confidence in the core group of players and he believes they can do it with their backs against the wall. Every winning streak has to start with one win and that makes Sunday's game vs. Pittsburgh the biggest game of the season up to this point for the Lions.
"We still have an opportunity, and we have to make the most of it," Campbell said.
What jumped out as the difference in the game when watching the tape of Sunday's loss?
The game came down to three series both offensively and defensively in the third quarter that shaped the outcome of the contest. Detroit was outscored 17-0 in the third quarter during a stretch where the Lions' offense produced three straight three-and-outs.
"We had nine plays for six yards," Campbell said. "That was tough. There were a number of errors we had some technique and fundamental things that we have to get cleaned up that you can't get away with against a team like that that really got us."
A holding penalty and a sack were the two biggest errors offensively but also the inability to get ahead of the sticks on first down put them in a hole. Campbell said if they were able to do anything offensively or defensively on those three series in the third quarter, it potentially changes the outcome of the game.
Why wasn't the defense able to consistently limit the Rams in both phases?
Los Angeles averaged 5.5 yards per carry while racking up 159 yards on the ground with three rushing touchdowns. Quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 368 yards and a couple more scores as LA had 519 yards of total offense, the most Detroit's allowed all season.
"It is extremely difficult defensively to defend those guys if you cannot even corral or limit their run game," he said. "It started there. A number of things with the turtle motions and the inserts with the tight ends, they force your corners to be support on inside, just a couple of tricky things."
Campbell said they must be crisper on all things moving forward that they will likely see again Sunday as Pittsburgh runs a lot of the same concepts within their offense and run game. One big thing this week will be devising a plan where they utilize their help a little better in certain areas.
Any update on the hand injury suffered by cornerback Amik Robertson?
Campbell is hopeful Robertson will be able to play Sunday against the Steelers. The Lions are already down starting cornerback Terrion Arnold to a shoulder injury. Detroit will know more about Robertson's status in the next couple of days.
"It can affect him a little bit, but I think, we like to believe he's going to have a chance to play here," Campbell said. "But until we get to practice, we won't entirely know."
How can Detroit help their boundary corners a little more moving forward?
Robertson and D.J. Reed were put on an island a lot Sunday and Rams wide receivers Puka Nacua (9 catches, 181 yards) and Davante Adams (4 catches, 71 yards) had a lot of success.
The Lions got to a point Sunday where they were trying to defend the run with a lighter box to help their secondary but that wasn't effective. Campbell said he and defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard were talking about some ways they think they can help the secondary more moving forward and relieve some stress there to spread the load a little bit more effectively.
Reed allowed four receptions for 96 yards in his coverage area Sunday, per Pro Football Focus statistics, with Robertson allowing five catches for 69 yards.
Is there anything Campbell would have done differently from a play-calling perspective in that critical third quarter stretch where they went three-and-out for three straight possessions?
"It's so tough because I wanted to get the run game going and we get a solid run (Jahmyr Gibbs for 5 yards on first offensive play of half) and then we run it again and get a holding penalty," he said. "Then you try to overcome that, run it again, probably should have thrown it.
"Then we come back and go for a shot, and we just barely miss. That was about to be huge, had it in his hands, hits the ground and just can't come up with it. We were so close. That would have been a significant play. But now we're 2nd & 10 and then we get a sack and now we're 3rd & 22."
Campbell tried to get the run game going that third series too, but it went for two yards on first down and they were behind the sticks again.
"We could not execute in that kind of nine-play stretch and we were not able to overcome the negative plays," he said.
Hindsight is always tough, Campbell admitted Monday, but he doesn't regret the play calling because he wanted to get the run game going to start the second half.
