Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell joins Jon and Jim to discuss the blowout win over the Jaguars, staying focused, "running up the score", and more.
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00:00Ten games left. Lions head coach Dan Campbell this morning setting records
00:05left and right after a historic Sunday. Good morning, coach. Good morning. Is there
00:10any way to put what you guys were able to do, offense, defense, special teams, into
00:15perspective as to how unique and how special that performance was? No, it's
00:22hard to say. I mean, those, you know, they don't come around often. I
00:26mean, those are, you know, it just doesn't happen all the time, but we've
00:35been a part of a few of these now and, you know, there again that's a sign of a
00:39good team. You know, when you're on top of the details and you play
00:44as hard as we played, we played hard, man. We played violent, physical, relentless
00:50football and were detailed with it. That's what we're capable of and it was
00:56good and really, look, I said all three phases. Look, our special teams did their
00:59part. They just weren't involved that much because it was, you know, we
01:03didn't have to punt at all. I felt bad for Fox. I know, you know, he's over there.
01:07He wants to punt. He's pissed off, but anyway, it was a good day. So then
01:13as a coach, because there's always stuff to get better at, is it harder to
01:16coach after a win like that because everybody feels like they just put a
01:19great game out there? How do you keep these guys on the tracks? No, I mean, our
01:23guys have been pretty good, man. Like I said, we don't shy away from
01:28what we know it to be and, you know, if I've got something on my mind, I'm
01:33going to say it and you just, you know, let's call it what it is, man.
01:40You know, you have a game like that. You can't let off the gas. You know, this is
01:43the next opponent. It doesn't matter what anybody's record is, where you're at, how
01:49you feel, how they feel, where we're going. I mean, you've got to lock back in
01:53again and we know what we're capable of, but you've got to understand, too, this team
01:58is like the Colts. We're getting ready to go play those guys. They're very much in
02:02that division race. You know, they're in the playoff race. I think these coaches
02:08do a hell of a job over there. I think Coach Steichen, Gus Bradley, that crew, man,
02:12I think they're damn good coaches. I got a lot of respect for them and we've
02:16had a lot of crossover tape in the last couple of years, so they're
02:21going to be ready to roll, but the important thing is that we improve on
02:25our end and we continue to play good ball and, you know, there again, you want
02:29to be playing your best football by the time you hit late December, January, and
02:34I feel like we're on our way to doing that. That's important.
02:37It feels like throughout the course of the year that you guys have lost just a
02:42number of key pieces and a lot of them on defense, whether it's been, you know,
02:47Derek Barnes, obviously Hutch, and you found a way to overcome those. Now you
02:52lose Anzalone for six to eight weeks. How do you replace his, not necessarily his
02:59production, I know that's going to be tough to replace, but his leadership and
03:03what he means in the locker room for this team? Yeah, I mean, look, these aren't
03:08easy. You know, this isn't an easy one. You know, losing Alex is, you know,
03:14it's hard and, you know, you lose another one over there and it does make it
03:19hard, but at the same token, we do have a pretty relentless group, resilient group.
03:24They understand that, you know, this is, guess what, this isn't the last thing
03:28that's going to happen to us, barring, I mean, there's going to be other things
03:32going to pop up. We're going to hit more adversity, but our guys understand that
03:36we expect that and it's our job to overcome it. And so, look, Jack
03:43has done a heck of a job for us now. Well, he's going to take over the green
03:46dot. Well, you know, he, this is not necessarily anything too new for him. I
03:50mean, he's, he's held the green dot before. He's, he's done that when Alex
03:55has been hurt. He, he's played plenty of snaps for us. The defense is very
04:00comfortable around him. He's a bell cow for us. He plays lights out every week.
04:05He's done that since he was a rookie. He's played relentless balls, so he's
04:09going to step in and do a great job. We got Rodrigo back. He's doing well. This
04:13is one of the reasons we got Neiman here, Ben Neiman. We got a lot of trust
04:17in him. He's played plenty of football, smart player, you know, and then we got
04:21Zeke Turner, who we got back here. It was for special teams, but there's a place
04:25for him too. We just signed David Long. We'll see where he's at. So we've got, you
04:31know, we've got guys here that, that we feel like will pick up the slack and
04:36we'll move forward. AG does a great job of game planning and getting our guys
04:40prepared for the next opponent.
04:42Dan, can you talk us through the enviable position of being up 5, 6, 7
04:47scores in a football game and, and the juggling act of when to take guys out?
04:51Like Jerry Goff up 36 points in the third quarter. What's he doing in the
04:55game? What's the thought process there?
04:57Well, you want to win the game. You know, that's number one. What you don't want to
05:04do is you get one of those and you're up and then, and then you decide you're
05:08going to let off the gas and let's get the starters out and all, and then they
05:11mount a comeback because it can happen. It can happen. You know, it's funny. I was
05:15watching Jacksonville versus Philly three weeks before that and I don't know,
05:20it was 23 to nothing, 22 to nothing, and in a matter of 18 seconds, Jacksonville
05:26scored 16 points. 18 seconds in the third quarter. And so these things, these
05:33things happen, man, and you don't know what's coming down the wire. You, yeah,
05:37you know, you, the odds are low, but man, you got to be careful. You, you sure as
05:42hell don't want to be up like that and end up getting in a dogfight at the end
05:46and something bad happens. That's one. Two is you want to make sure that you end on
05:50a good note. You know, you, you're playing good, efficient football. The guys feel
05:55good about it. You're in a rhythm. I think it bleeds into the next week and I think
05:59that's important. So we did that and then the right time is to pull them out
06:03there. You know, if you're able to pull them out in the early fourth, great, and
06:07we were able to do that. But if you're asking me to pull somebody out in the
06:10third quarter or you're asking me to pull somebody out right before the
06:14second quarter, before Angeloni gets hurt, I'm never going to do that, ever.
06:19The rushing attack with both of those guys in the backfield, Gibbs and
06:25Montgomery, and it seems like you can insert anybody behind that offensive
06:28line and they're able to gain yards. But we had Tariko on when he was doing the
06:32Sunday night game for you guys and he mentioned all of the best teams. There's
06:35been a resurgence in the rushing attack and you guys are calling more runs
06:41than you even did last year. What do you think it is about, one, those teams but
06:47also just the resurgence of the running game in the successful teams this year?
06:53Well, I mean it's always been part of our identity here. I mean that was, that's
06:58been a staple since I got here. We're going to run the football. And so I think
07:04that, you know, that's what we are. But if you're just looking at
07:08what it's been between last year and this year, you know, this is
07:14really kind of a new offense. I mean, as far as the pieces that we have, the core
07:19is here. But, you know, you add a guy like TP, you know, you add Zeitler, you know,
07:26so it's not entirely 100% totally similar to what it was last year. So you
07:32got to find your own rhythm, your own identity, and it's been good for us. You
07:36know, with Dave Montgomery running the way he runs, it's been good for this
07:39offensive line. And then the, you know, Gibbs coming on like he's been able to,
07:45it's really leaned that way a little bit. And then we, you know, the pass
07:50game comes off of that. But it's just, that's one of those years where we feel
07:55like it's been good for us. You know, we hang our hat on it. We always will. But
07:58look, that doesn't mean that who knows what happens next year. Hell, it doesn't
08:02mean that the back half of the season, we may tilt more to the passing game
08:06depending on opponent or where we're at or how we feel or, but, and then look,
08:12it's a copycat league. You know, if people look around and they feel like
08:15some of the better teams are running the football a lot more, what makes you want
08:18to find a way to run the football and then, you know, use some of those, some of
08:23the schemes that other teams are doing? You know, I mean, everybody's looking at
08:26each other's stuff and trying to improve it and use it to make your team better.
08:31Talking to Lions head coach Dan Campbell, Zedarius Smith, how did he look in his
08:35debut in a Lions uniform to you? Yeah, he did a good job. You know, he did a good
08:40job. Stepped in and thought he battled out there. I thought he was, you know, a
08:45piece of the puzzle like we talked about. I thought he had a job to do and I think
08:48he did his job and he'll only get better the more he's around our guys and, you
08:55know, begins to really understand them and how to play with them and they
08:58learn about him. But, you know, for the first time out to come in, I thought he
09:04did his job and I do feel like he elevates those guys around him, just like
09:09they'll elevate him. You've had really good play in the secondary. Brian Branch,
09:14I mean, he's been lights out. Kirby Joseph currently leads the NFL in
09:18interceptions and, you know, like the X's and O's and the execution is one
09:23thing, but how much of the success in the secondary is just the fact that
09:28receivers don't really want to run across the middle against this bunch?
09:32Yeah, that has something to do with it, you know, and that's part of what we
09:36are. That's part of our identity. I mean, that's a day one deal there, you
09:41know. That's AG. I mean, that, you know, you have to show that you're
09:48willing to hit and that you are a physical bunch in the secondary. And I
09:52say, I'll say it again, we've said it all the time, if you want to be known as a
09:55physical team, you hit and you tackle on the perimeter, you know, your corners,
10:01your DBs, and then on offense, your receivers block and they finish
10:08in the run game. That's how you know you got a physical team. That's what we
10:11have. So yeah, I think there's enough to where guys know that, you know, they got
10:15a decision to make if the ball's coming their way, because our guys are
10:19going to hit them. But that's how you play football, man. That's how we play
10:21football here. AG said that from day one. It's what I believe in, and Shea and
10:27J.O. are doing a great job of carrying that message to and teaching that.
10:32Dan, it looks like you guys are the best team in football, right? Best record, odds
10:36to win the Super Bowl, point differential. So I'll ask you, where do you still need
10:39to get better? Well, there's always things to clean up. I mean, there was
10:46things in all three units that, you know, like offensively, one of the things that
10:49came up here is, well, yeah, well, how do you improve on scoring every possession?
10:53Well, there was about three of them we could have scored five
10:57plays sooner or four plays sooner, you know, and it worked out in that game, but
11:02you know, what if you are playing Green Bay, you're playing Minnesota, you're
11:07playing Kansas City, you're playing, but whatever it is, you're in one of these,
11:11you know, and you're having to go score for score or whatever is going on, you
11:16may not have that luxury to get another reload on it, and so that's what it
11:21is. You know, you got to clean those up, and then defensively, we had some things
11:25come up where, you know, we weren't where we were supposed to be on a few plays,
11:29and it didn't catch up to us, but, you know, you play
11:34Josh Allen, or you play Love, or you play one of these, they're going to find it,
11:38and it's going to hurt you, and it won't just be an explosive, it's going to be a
11:42touchdown, so, you know, there's always things to clean up, you know. Was it good?
11:46Yeah. Was it improved? Absolutely, but we still have a little ways to go, and we
11:53can get better in all three phases, and that's the job, man. Our guys know that.
11:56You should strive to be perfect. You should strive to play a perfect game,
12:01knowing you never will, but you're always grasping for it. You're always going to
12:06try to find a way to absolutely play the perfect game. I'm sure you have no idea
12:11what's being talked about you outside the building, but I'm also pretty sure
12:15that you know what your own guys are saying, and I would love to know
12:19your reaction and your thoughts, your emotions, when you hear guys asked the
12:24question, hey, you guys are running up the score, and the response is, well, if
12:30you don't want us to run up the score, then play better. Stop it, right? Stop it.
12:34You know, come out and play better. So your reaction, your thoughts, your
12:37emotions, when you hear your guys talking with that much confidence? Well, yeah, I
12:42mean, I don't know where all that's coming from. I don't, you know, but
12:49yeah, we're just playing football, and we're playing, we're doing our style of
12:53game the way we play. I mean, hell, we pulled our freaking guys out. I mean,
12:58early fourth quarter, I don't, so, you know, we're just playing ball, man. This
13:04is what we do, and I'm not playing any different, and we're not playing any
13:09different than we have since I got here, and we're an improved team. We're a
13:13better team, and we're going to play football the way we believe in football,
13:18and that's the bottom line. So we got a confident team. They freaking worked
13:24their tails off. I mean, you should have seen how they worked on Thursday, and how
13:28they work during the week for all these games. I mean, they bust their ass. They
13:32believe the way you practice is the way you play, and as long as we keep doing
13:36that, we keep trying to improve and clean up our errors, we will be a tough team to
13:41beat. He's Lions head coach Dan Campbell. We appreciate the check-in. Thanks, Dan.
13:45Thanks, Dan. All right, thanks. Have a good one. It's 97-1.