Lions coach Dan Campbell didn’t hide from the facts after his team lost 38-35 to the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday’s Week 1 matchup. Campbell was forthright in stating the obvious about his defense and its inability to stop Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.
“We struggled with their quarterback,” Campbell said after the game. “Hurts hurt us. So, he’s a good player, but we got to be able to respond to those things.”
Hurts repeatedly gashed the Lions defense on the ground in the first half. He raced to 67 yards on 10 carries, several of which extended drives with first downs. Hurts finished with 90 rushing yards on 17 carries.
After starting slowly throwing the ball, Hurts picked up his passing too. In the second half, Hurts completed seven of his nine attempts. The Eagles only gained 54 yards in the air after halftime, but five of those completions converted first downs, too.
Campbell lamented the inability to stop Hurts when there were so many plays that the defense just missed him.
“We had a lot of, ‘I’m almost in position – I am – I got a hand on him,’ and we just couldn’t close it out,” Campbell stated. “Look, I think we will be better for that. You know, you face a guy like that and there was a number of (new) guys out there. It’s the first game of the season, it’s a full game – now you’re in the real tempo, real NFL tempo against real dudes. I think it got on some guys, but they will be better for it. Everybody will be better and will be in a lot better shape after playing after one week.”
