Locker Room Buzz: Another round of bounce-back talk, run game and third quarter struggles and Reed's rut
Inglewood, Calif. — Here’s what (little) I learned bouncing around the Detroit Lions’ locker room following the team’s 41-34 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Holding on to hope
Detroit doesn’t control its own destiny, but on the off chance they win their final three games, there’s still a strong chance of making the postseason. For example, the New York Times playoff predictor has those odds at 94%.
Of course, the Lions haven’t won back-to-back games in more than two months. So it’s a pretty big leap of faith to suggest they’ll right the ship. Regardless, belief remains strong in the locker room.
“We’ve got a resilient group,” quarterback Jared Goff said. “We bounced back after things like this and have a home game in front of our fans. We expect them to bring it for us and find a way to win that one and go to the next. There’d be nothing better than entering the playoffs off a three-game win streak. That has to be the goal. But again, in order to win three, you have to win one. We have to focus on that one.”
Schematic shift causes problems
If there was one stat or trend more concerning than any other coming out of the contest, it was the Rams’ efficiency in the run game.
Detroit has had a good run defense, but they had no answer for the tandem of Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, who were efficient on nearly 70% of their carries. By that standard, it was the worst performance by a Detroit defense during the Dan Campbell era.
Defensive tackle DJ Reader noted that the Rams tweaked their scheme and Detroit struggled to adjust.