CHARLOTTE, NC – Blame the defense. Blame the general manager. Blame the underperforming middle linebacker.
Heck, blame all the linebackers – well, except for Trevor Nowaske, who got the start and who was, generally, where he was supposed to be.
Blame the secondary and the defensive linemen not named Aidan Hutchinson and Alim McNeill – well, you can blame Hutchinson a little, just because.
Blame the center for the holding penalty and the right tackle for the false starts and the offensive coordinator for not calling a run when the Detroit Lions got the ball back with 2:06 left, down six, and possessing no timeouts but an improbable chance to beat the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, Oct. 4, at Bank of America Stadium.
not just embarrassing, they're demoralizing
Maybe a run fools the Panthers in that spot, with the Lions needing 89 yards for a touchdown. Maybe Jahmyr Gibbs finds a crease and breaks it for 15, and the drive is off and going.
Lions offensive coordinator Drew Petzing had the two-minute warning that would've stopped the clock if he called a run. Then again, maybe don't blame the offensive coordinator for not calling a run there because the Lions hadn't run the ball successfully all night.
Blame the offensive line, as a whole, then. It didn't pick up blitzes – not consistently, not well enough, not early enough.
Blame the offense, as a whole, in the first quarter ... and the second quarter, when the tone is meant to be set, so to speak, and the defense might benefit later from a few fewer plays early. Blame the white pants. The night games. (Shoot, why not, Ben Johnson! How dare he take the job in Chicago.)
Blame the general manager. Again. And again. And again.
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He'd take the blame, I'm guessing, after listening to the postgame interviews here Sunday. The players said to blame them. The coach said to blame him.
And maybe that's where this should finally land: At the feet of Dan Campbell, who, yes, took the blame after the Lions fell to 2-2.
He should've. The Lions aren't well-coached right now, which is hard to say considering what Campbell has done for this franchise.
They aren't sharp. Or crisp. Or whatever word you prefer. Campbell knows it. Said it. And took responsibility for all of it.
Yeah, discipline is an issue – the Lions took nine penalties, including four false start flags.
Campbell is looking into it, and he has been looking into it, and so far this season he has not been able to figure it out the way he wants. He hasn't been able to teach, coach, cajole and convince his players to be where they need to be, when they need to be, consistently enough.
So, while we can point to talent and a lack of trades and a lack of stellar draft picks from 2024 – and possibly 2025 – the Lions have as least as much talent at the Carolina Panthers, and yet, for stretches, they didn't look like they belonged on the same field.
Oh, they did.
Which is why they fought back and gave themselves their final chance. Campbell will never dismiss that mental toughness, nor should he. But boy, the penalties and the mental errors and the penchant for getting in their own way early in games on offense. ...
"I'd put this 100% on me," he said, "I'm not getting it done right now."
That fourth-quarter delay of game penalty on fourth down that helped end a critical drive?
"I put that squarely on my shoulders," he said.
For all of the obvious issues on defense, the offense is showing lapses, too. It's just harder to see because the lapses are covered with more talent, and the margin, between the Lions and the rest of the league, isn't as narrow. Then again, the margin isn't as wide as it used to be, either.
Therefore, the mistakes and matters of focus matter more than they ever have. The Lions can no longer mash their way to 5 yards like they once did – they might get there later in the year when their offensive line is whole, but, then again, they might not.
The only way for the Lions to take advantage of the enormous offensive skill that is still on this team is to cut down on the mistakes. That falls on Campbell.
"And so, I'm the one who is going to get this fixed," he said. "I'm the one who is going to fix this whole discipline thing. Whatever it takes."
Contact Shawn Windsor: swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him @shawnwindsor.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dan Campbell takes blame for after Lions' Carolina loss, and he should
