It was a cold and blustery evening at Lincoln Financial Field, when the the Detroit Lions arrived to face a Philadelphia Eagles squad that had won seven of their first nine games of the season.

Dan Campbell is quite familiar with the hostile environment, as he spent several seasons playing for the New York Giants.

“To go back to all this, in my own history I was in the NFC East for seven years. Philly, I know it well and it’s a special place to play,” Campbell said in an interview with FOX-2. “It is hostile, it’s gonna be as hostile as a place we’ve ever been to. It is an electric atmosphere, man. Our guys are going to love this. We get a champion, get to play a champ, it’s gonna be a heavyweight fight. We’ve got to be on cue, and it’s just the type of game that we love, so this is perfect.”

Both teams understood the significant ramifications of the NFC heavyweight showdown.

After 60 mins of action, the Lions’ offense was not able to overcome Vic Fangio’s stingy Eagles defense.

Next up is a home contest against the New York Giants at Ford Field.

Here are several takeaways from the Lions’ 16-9 loss to the Eagles:

 

Eagles defense forces early turnover

After Detroit won the opening coin toss, the defense was able to force a stop on the Eagles opening offensive drive.

Campbell decided to start the game on their first possession passing the football, finding Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs for early completions.

Unfortunately, the Eagles defensive line made a play early in the Week 11 contest. Jordan Davis was able to tip a Jared Goff pass that was intended for tight end Brock Wright, resulting in Cooper DeJean interception that was returned to the Lions 11-yard line.

After a sudden change of possession, Detroit’s defense held, as the Eagles were forced to settle for a Jake Elliott 27-yard field goal.

Lions offense struggles to establish rhythm in first half

It was tough sledding for Detroit’s offense throughout their first four offensive possessions.

Last week, Detroit was able to move the football quite easily. In the rougher weather conditions, the ability to extend drives early in the game proved to be quite difficult.

Unfortunately, rookie right guard Tate Ratledge left the game during the team’s third offensive possession. He was replaced by Trystan Colon for a brief period of time before returning to action.

Eagles linebacker Jaelan Phillips made his presence felt by sacking Goff in the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Campbell made the decision to go for it on fourth-and-1 near midfield. The Eagles defensive line, which stuffed Jahmyr Gibbs the play prior, was able to again stuff Detroit’s rushing attack, forcing a turnover on downs.

Jameson Williams helps team, also hurts team

The Eagles capitalized on sniffingn out Detroit’s attempt at a fake punt in the second quarter.

After taking a 6-0 lead, the Lions found their top two offensive weapons on their sixth offensive drive of the first half.

Amon-Ra St. Brown was on the receiving end of a 34-yard reception. The very next play, Goff found Jameson Williams, who was then able to easily scamper for a 40-yard touchdown.

After jumping into the uprights, the speedy wideout incurred an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, forcing kicker Jake Bates to try a 48-yard extra-point. Williams celebration ended up costing his team.

In tougher conditions, Bates sent the extra point wide right, keeping the game tied at 6-6.

Super Bowl champs put clamps on Lions’ offense, Eagles prevail

Lions do not execute at championship level on fourth down

Last week, Gibbs recorded three touchdowns against Washington, becoming the sixth player in NFL history to score 40 prior to his 24th birthday.

On Detroit’s first drive of the second half, the team was not able to execute on fourth down, as a Goff pass was low and unable to be caught by Williams.

Following a defensive stop, Gibbs sparked the offense, assisting the team move down the field and into the red zone. He took a screen pass for a big gain, bursting 42 yards to the Philadelphia 24-yard line.

However, after Gibbs took three more runs inside the Eagles’ 10, the drive stalled out. On fourth down, the Eagles defensive line pressured Goff, forcing the incompletion on a toss to St. Brown.

Photo gallery from Sunday Night Football matchup between the Lions and Eagles

Eagles defensive line exposes Lions offensive line

The Eagles feature one of the top defensive line units in the league. As the game went on, and noticeably in the third quarter, the offensive line struggled to protect Goff enough to allow him enough time to make throws.

It was pointed out on the television broadcast just how much difficulty Detroit’s offensive line had with Phillips and Jordan Davis.

As a result, Goff was regularly pressured, hurried and struggled to consistently find his receivers in stride or in position to allow for yards after the catch. He had multiple passes batted at the line of scrimmage and was forced off platform routinely.

This article was produced by the staff at Detroit Lions On SI. For more, visit si.com/nfl/lions

Even though the road game against the Washington Commanders did not have the level of excitement as a playoff game, the Detroit Lions were seeking to get revenge against a team that previously eliminated them from the postseason.

Detroit was seeking to get the bad taste out of their mouth, following a disappointing performance last week at home in loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

“We’ve got to play clean football. We’ve got to clean our stuff up, take care of it,” Dan Campbell told play-by-play voice Dan Miller this week. “We’ve got to find a way to get takeaways. You can’t give them any confidence, and by the way, we just came off a loss so we’ve got to clean our stuff up and get our confidence back. The best way to do it is to go on the road and get a win.”

Early in the game, supporters watching on television quickly noticed that Campbell was acting differently on the sideline.

After 60 minutes of action, the Lions’ offense has been given a new jolt of excitement, led by an apparent change in play-calling duties.

Here are several takeaways from the Lions’ 44-22 victory against the Commanders:

 

Dan Campbell called offensive plays

Early in the game, the television broadcast noticed Campbell was donning glasses and communicating much more prior to plays being run.

While it took a while to be officially confirmed, the offense clearly looked like much more efficient, explosive and involved more players.

At halftime, it was acknowledged by the fifth-year head coach the team wanted a ‘changeup’ in how things operated, but offensive coordinator John Morton still had a role.

Throughout the first half, Detroit’s offense scored at will and was able to run the football.

In the second half, Jameson Williams was involved and found his way into the end zone. Also, the team did incorporate more plays to Kalif Raymond, the third wideout on the depth chart.

Lions offense starts fast

During the week leading up to the game, Campbell indicated he had plenty of ideas to try and get the offense into gear.

Early in the game, cameras caught Campbell with a play sheet and communicating into the headset. At the same time, it did not appear from the broadcast that offensive coordinator John Morton was making calls.

On Detroit’s offensive drive, the team got into rythym quite quickly, as they established the run and converted on third-down.

Jared Goff led the team on a 10-play, 78-yard drive that was capped off by a Jahmyr Gibbs 14-yard touchdown grab.

By the conclusion of the contest, Detroit had racked up over 500 yards of offense.

Commanders defensive lineman ejected for striking Amon-Ra St. Brown

Tensions boiled over at the worst possible time for one of the Commanders’ top defensive lineman.

In the second quarter, defensive lineman Daron Payne was ejected for striking Detroit’s top wideout, Amon-Ra St. Brown, after Detroit running back Jahmyr Gibbs scored a 13-yard touchdown.

Gibbs was assisted to the end zone by St. Brown and tight end Sam Laporta, who both gave the extra push needed to force the speedy running back into the end zone.

St. Brown was struck in the facemask as he walked past the veteran defender, prompting the immediate ejection.

The additional penalty yardage was used to assist Detroit successfully complete a two-point conversion, giving Detroit a 22-3 lead.

Dan Campbell calls plays, Lions plaster Commanders with dominant offense

Defense has solid first half, issues arise in second half

With Jayden Daniels sidelined, the Lions were tasked with slowing down Commanders backup quarterback Marcus Mariota. A big kick return set up Washington’s first scoring drive, which ended in a field goal, but the defense largely answered the bell.

Mariota was 7-of-11 for 98 yards in the first half, but the Lions were able to smother Washington’s run game aside from one drive. The Commanders averaged just 2.9 yards per in the first half. Detroit forced two punts on five first half drives, and was able to use its explosive offensive start to build a 25-10 halftime lead.

The Commanders were able to get things rolling offensively in the second half, as they were able to get into the end zone. Mariota led a nine-play, 69-yard drive that culminated in a fourth-down scoring throw to Deebo Samuel to cut the lead to two scores.

Photo gallery from Detroit Lions’ road win over Washington Commanders

Jameson Williams more involved in the offense

Prior to the season, coaches indicated the expectation was for the speedy wideout to have a breakout season.

Prior to the Commanders game, there were growing concerns the former first-round pick was being overlooked.

He was not being utilized as effectively as many would have liked, prompting supporters to call for the former Alabama Crimson Tide wideout to be used better in the offense.

This week, Williams was involved more effectively. By the start of the fourth-quarter, he was targeted six times and recorded six receptions for 119 yards and a touchdown.

This article was produced by the staff at Detroit Lions On SI. For more, visit si.com/nfl/lions