ALLEN PARK, Mich. – The recent downfall of the Detroit Lions is pretty simple.
They give it away too much and they don’t take it back enough.
In consecutive losses to Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay, the Lions are minus-8 in turnover margin with eight giveaways and no takeaways.
“They sometimes come in spurts,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said of the turnovers, including his four interceptions Sunday in a 24-21 loss to the Buccaneers. “That’s not a winning formula.
“It’s the No. 1 stat in football. We turn the ball over and don’t get any back, that’s tough to win. We’ve got to be better with the football.”
Nevertheless, don’t look for Stafford and the Lions’ offense to change their approach considerably going into Thursday’s game against the Green Bay Packers at Ford Field.
Stafford plans to fling it around like he always does. He just wants to be a little wiser in some cases.
“I keep firing it,” he said. “I definitely understand situations in a game and try to play as smart as I possibly can. I can make better decisions. I can make better throws.
“But at the same time, I’m doing my team and myself a disservice if I throw one that gets tipped and falls in another guy’s arm or we make a bad decision, and I go into a shell. This offense is built around making plays. I’m a big part of that.
“I’ve got to make sure that no matter what’s happened the play before – whether I threw a touchdown or I threw a pick – I’m throwing it again just as confident the next time.”
Coach Jim Schwartz, whose team remains tied for first place in the NFC North with Chicago, wants Stafford to keep that mentality.
In a league like the NFL, there’s a fine line between a brilliant play for a touchdown and seemingly mindless throw for an interception.
“What has been our greatest strength has also turned out to be a weakness at times,” Schwartz said. “Some of the plays we made (for big plays) were because we were aggressive, got the ball to Calvin (Johnson) even if he was covered and things like that.
“A couple of them (interceptions), we were trying to take shots down the field. Those have been plays that we’ve made. We’ve got to balance those. We want to remain aggressive. We want to be a team that can push the ball down the field, particularly to a guy like Calvin.
“But the last couple weeks, we’ve had (three) interceptions trying to get the ball to Calvin down the field.”
One of those came in the final minute Sunday when Johnson got the ball jarred loose for an interception inside Tampa Bay’s 5-yard line.
Of the four interceptions that day, Stafford regretted only two of his throws.
He felt he should have waited a little longer to try to hit tight end Brandon Pettigrew in the final minute of the first half, an interception that was returned for a touchdown.
Stafford also admitted he made a bad decision, was too aggressive when he tried to force one to Johnson in the end zone in the third quarter and failed to recognize a safety could cut across to make the play.
“You try to make as good a decision as you possibly can, make a perfect throw every time,” Stafford said. “You find me that guy who makes the perfect decision and the perfect throw (all the time) and I’d invest a lot of money in that guy.
“This is NFL football. There are guys flying around. It doesn’t always happen that way. But I can definitely make better decisions and better throws than I did (Sunday). I looked at it. I’m going to do everything I can to get it right.”
Schwartz said two other factors could great help turnover discrepancy.
The offense line, which has been a pleasant surprise this season, had one of its worst performances against Tampa Bay, often allowing interior pressure that forced Stafford into some off-balance throws.
That was also a problem the first time the Lions played the Packers, a 22-9 loss in Green Bay on October 6, and needs to be cleaned up this week.
The coach reiterated the need for the defense to start pitching in with some takeaways again, which it did so well earlier in the season, to help balance out the turnover margin better.
Otherwise, with this big of a difference between giveaways and takeaways, it’s difficult to imagine the Lions getting out of their current rut and hanging on to win a division title.
EXTRA POINTS
--- Stafford disagreed with teammate Reggie Bush’s assessment that the Lions needed a “players-only meeting” to regroup after back-to-back losses.
The meeting didn’t take place, according to Stafford.
“I don’t think it’s necessary,” he said. “This is a team I’ve been around for a while. We have strong leaders on this team. We can get it taken care of just in individual groups. We’ve got leaders at every position.
"Guys know what it takes to win in this league and what a fine margin it is. There’s no offensive, defensive, special teams overhaul needed. We’ve got to go out there and just play a little bit better than we’ve been playing.
“I think we’re ready to go. We have young guys who maybe haven’t been in this position. It’s on the leaders of this team and the guys who have been around to show them how to act. Yeah, you’ve lost two games but you’ve still got a chance to go out there and win your division and it starts on Thursday.”
--- The quick turnaround for the Thanksgiving Day game will be especially difficult for cornerback Chris Houston (foot), Johnson (knee), safeties Louis Delmas (knee) and Glover Quin (ankle), and defensive end Israel Idonije (knee).
The Lions only held a walk-through Monday, but they still had to release an injury report to the league and the estimation was that all five of those players would have been out if they had practiced.
