James Campen didnt mince words when it came to assessing the play of his offensive linemen in the Packers 7-3 loss at Detroit on Sunday.
Every one of the guys had a losing performance, Campen, the Packers offensive line coach, said on Monday after grading the film.
The poor play up front was the overriding factor in the upset loss at Ford Field. Other than two explosive gains on quarterback scrambles, one of which got starter Aaron Rodgers concussed and knocked out of the game, the Packers had no running room. Running backs Brandon Jackson (seven carries), James Starks (six) and Dimitri Nance (two) combined for 31 rushing yards largely through no fault of their own.
The Lions, who rarely blitzed, recorded eight quarterback hits and four sacks.
Campen chalked it up to things like footwork, hand placement and pad level, the latter of which was both a problem in the running game and on some of the bull rushes that created pressures and sacks.
It really stings you more when youre not fundamentally sound, and you allow that to happen because your own individual technique is not where it should be. To get physically beat in some of those instances is embarrassing.
Safe to say, it wasnt a pleasant Monday film review in the offensive line meeting room.
These guys will respond, and they will come back to work, and they will remember this, Campen said. This cannot happen. To have all of us getting beat, players at times are going to have a tough day, but then you rely on the next guy to pick you up. Thats being a teammate and working together. But too many times it was all of them.
The Packers lost starting left guard Daryn Colledge on the second play of the game. He sustained a left knee injury while trying to tackle Detroits Brandon McDonald, who recovered a fumble by Packers tight end Andrew Quarless. Jason Spitz finished the first half in Colledges place but then was benched in favor of T.J. Lang, who in the words of offensive coordinator Joe Philbin did OK, I guess and was average.
The surprising part about it was the Lions didnt do anything fancy. In many cases, they rushed only four. But their front seven dominated in the running game.
When you have five negative (yardage) runs, four sacks, two penalties, youre going backwards, Philbin said. Its hard enough to get a first down. Its tough to stick with the run game when you have five negative runs in the ball game.
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