According to Dan Campbell, the Detroit Lions have a lot to "clean up" after their disappointing 41-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 2, and he didn't hesitate to call out what needs to improve. During a postgame press conference, Campbell explained what led to his team's loss, including the defense's inability to get stops. Then again, they were attempting to stop a Bills offense led by the dynamic Josh Allen, who can also take off running to get yards or touchdowns, and did so on Thursday night.
I don't like losing like that," the Lions coach said. "But I also know we just finished Week 2." "We’ve got a lot of room to grow, and that’s encouraging,” Campbell told reporters, adding, “We’ve just got to clean up a lot of things on defense right now, particularly in the back end. ... It wasn’t good enough." More news: Texans Pro Bowler ‘In Jeopardy’ of Missing Time After Suffering Sudden Injury Buffalo built what seemed like an insurmountable lead early, with Allen scoring a rushing touchdown first.
He later found teammate Joshua Palmer on a 43-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-0 in the first quarter. The onslaught continued in the second quarter as Allen hit Dawson Knox for a one-yard pass in the endzone to build a three-touchdown lead. The Lions answered via Goff's pass to running back Jahmyr Gibbs for an 11-yard second-quarter TD, but it was 27-10 at halftime.
Things got interesting in the second half, as the Lions cut it to a 10-point lead, twice. Goff found Sam LaPorta for a touchdown to do that early in the fourth quarter. But Allen and the Bills proved too much, with James Cook scoring his first TD of the season in the fourth quarter to push Buffalo to 41 points.
The Lions were outscored heavily early and struggled to shut down the Bills' offense. It seemed like a glaring issue carried over from the Week 1 game they nearly lost to the New Orleans Saints. The Lions survived at home to win by one point in overtime, 31-30.
More news: Travis Kelce Makes Surprising Admission About Mahomes Touchdown in Chiefs Win In Thursday night's loss, the Bills had 446 yards of total offense, and a lot of it was thanks to just how good Allen was. It's early in the season, but he certainly looked like a strong MVP contender in these first two games, completing 20 of 31 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for another 69 yards and two touchdowns. While the defense was certainly a significant issue, Campbell didn't only blame them in Thursday night's loss; he also accepted blame for how the coaching staff prepared the players.
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