Detroit Lions did enough to win, but struggles against bad teams can't continue

MIAMI GARDENS, FL – Maybe it was the brutal Miami heat.

Maybe it was the leftover emotional heft they were carrying in their first game after Jack Campbell’s scary neck injury.

Whatever the reason, the Detroit Lions looked like a different version of the team that had been on a roll, though they still managed to outlast an awful Miami Dolphins team in an ugly, penalty-filled 19-9 win at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 8.

They did enough to win and stay on that roll, claiming their fourth straight victory to improve to 6-2. The Dolphins dropped to 1-7.

Facing one of the NFL’s worst offense, the Lions’ defense held up its end by limiting the Dolphins. But the Lions’ offense struggled to get any momentum against a middle-of-the-road Miami defense.

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It was by no means the overarching reason the offense looked off, but the Lions made a strange decision to give Miles Frazier his first career start at left guard over Christian Mahogany, who was relegated to special-teams duty.

A few days after Campbell sustained his injury and then relayed good news about movement in his lower body, players in the Lions’ locker room were clearly relieved. As I wrote then, it’s hard to know how much of an emotional impact an incident like this can have on a team.

The Lions leaned into the moment and talked about putting forth an effort that would honor Campbell, their star linebacker and the quarterback of the defense. Before the game, defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard and some players entered the stadium wearing No. 46 jerseys to honor Campbell.

But it didn’t have the intended effect, at least on offense, which took a 6-3 halftime lead, going 0-for-1 in the red zone and 1-for-6 on third down.

Jared Goff threw a first-quarter interception, though his hand was hit by Josh Uche. He took three sacks in the first half, when the Lions managed just 78 yards of passing offense – with 11 of those passing yards coming from punter Jack Fox on a fake-punt completion to Tay Martin from the Lions’ own 30-yard line.

The trick play didn’t lead to points, but it was an example of the kind of derring-do the Lions seemed to understand they needed to jump-start the offense.

The defense continued to play well and kicked off the second half with Chuck Clark’s 34-yard interception return to the Miami 26 and on the Dolphins’ first drive. That set up Jake Bates’ short field goal for a 9-3 lead.

The Lions finally put together their first good drive of the game late in the third quarter, when they efficiently marched 65 yards on six plays. Goff found a wide-open Jameson Wiliams for 31 yards on the opening play and Jahmyr Gibbs punched it in from 8 yards for a 16-6 lead.

Maybe this was a wake-up call for the Lions. At least it should be. They’ve done well taking advantage of the NFL’s easiest schedule, but they only face one more truly awful team, against Tennessee in mid-December.

If they want to win the division, or have any kind of playoff potential at all, they can’t afford to struggle against inferior teams like the Dolphins, or let any kind of distraction derail them like this.

Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on X @cmonarrez.