FIRST DOWN: COMPLEMENTARY FOOTBALL
Consistently good football teams in the NFL typically have one thing in common: They play complementary football in all three phases more than they don’t.
Detroit’s 42-24 win over Carolina Sunday at Ford Field is a perfect example of a complementary win that head coach Dan Campbell wants to become a staple for his football team.
The Lions’ offense racked up 377 yards of offense and scored six touchdowns. They’ve had at least 350 yards of offense in every game this season. Three of those touchdowns came after Detroit’s defense forced Carolina turnovers in their own territory that Detroit turned into 21 points.
“Man, talk about complementary football, we’ve been talking about it was time for us to get a knockout, a strip, fumble that we got,” Campbell said after the game. “We talked about our d-line coming up with one and Hutch (Aidan Hutchinson) got one. Come away with three takeaways and turn those into 21 points offensively, that’s complementary football.”
Right now, the Lions have a top 10 offense and a top 10 defense, and both units played like it Sunday.
Kicker Riley Patterson capped all six touchdowns with extra points through the uprights and punter Jack Fox dropped both of his punts inside the 20-yard line.
All three phases played a big part in the win, and if Detroit keeps getting that kind of production, they’re going to be a tough team to beat.
2023-10-08 22:44:06
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