Future Focus: Dan Campbell Looks Ahead: Where Lions Can Improve

The Detroit Lions had quite a performance in Week 11 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the 52-6 score fully reflected it. That makes three wins by at least 38 points in their last six games, putting them in some historical territory for wins in a season by that kind of margin.

Those three opponents, the Jaguars, the Tennessee Titans and Dallas Cowboys, also have a combined record of 7-24 right now. So the Lions have simply done what good teams are supposed to do to bad teams.

The schedule will get tougher from here for the Lions. They have four division games left, they face the Buffalo Bills at home in Week 15 and they’ll face the San Francisco 49ers on the road in Week 17.

Dan Campbell is not outwardly one of the kind of coaches who’s never satisfied, but no coach is every fully satisfied with his team’s performance.

Dan Campbell notes areas where the Lions can improve

Tuesday morning on 97.1 The Ticket’s “Costa and Jensen with Heather”, Campbell was asked where the Lions still need to get better even as they look like the best team in football.

“There’s always things to clean up. I mean, there was things in all three units,” Campbell said. “Offensively, one of the things that came up here is, ‘How do you improve on scoring every possession?’ Well, there was about three of them we could’ve scored five plays sooner. It worked out in that game, but what if you’re playing Green Bay, Minnesota, you’re playing Kansas City, you’re playing Buffalo? If you’re having to go score for score or whatever’s going on, you may not get another reload on it. That’s what it is, you’ve got to clean those up.”

“Defensively, we had some things come up where we weren’t where we were supposed to be and it didn’t catch up to us, but you play Josh Allen or you play Love or you play one of these guys, they’re gonna find it and it’s gonna hurt you,” Campbell said. “It won’t just be an explosive, it’ll be a touchdown. Was it good? Yeah. Was it improved? Absolutely. But we still have a little ways to go.”

“We can get better in all three phases, and that’s the job. Our guys know that,” Campbell continued. “You should strive to be perfect, you should strive to play the perfect game knowing you never will. But you’re always grasping for it, you’re always gonna try and find a way to absolutely play the perfect game.”

We are in quite a place in Lions’ history when the head coach is (however lightly) publicly lamenting how one of the best offenses in the league could score more efficiently.

But within those comments, Campbell made a salient broader point regarding the quality of competition being set to ramp up. Small things the Lions may have gotten away with against the Jaguars stand to be exploited by better opponents down the road.