The Detroit Lions are having an incredible season, but it’s not without some hiccups. The Lions have struggled in the red zone this season, with both their offense and defense experiencing a drop in execution. Their offense is currently ranked 24th in the league for red zone touchdown percentage at 48.2 percent, while their defense is ranked 26th at 65.4 percent. So, they’re good but need some improvement if they want to make and go far in the playoffs.

When asked about the issue, Campbell admitted that a fair amount of self-induced errors have been costly.

“I think we need to do better on third-down. But some of that is because second-down isn’t good, right? You’re getting some of these long situations defensively. It’s it’s really on both sides,” Campbell said during a press conference on Monday (Nov. 6). “They’re self induced and so that’s the tough part of it. But it’s also that’s encouraging part.”

He added, “We can clean all these things up. So, we’ll certainly be able to convert or making them manageable conversions. We get them in third and long defensively — you can’t, we can’t allow them to to do it. There’s a couple of things that have shown up and it really is. Whether it’s a turnover or it’s a penalty on offense, like a holding or it’s a DPI or something.” He continued, saying, “Those have kind of bit us a little bit there. So, those are all things we can clean up.”

It’s crucial for a football team to minimize errors if they want to secure home-field advantage in the postseason. Coach Campbell has also emphasized the importance of his team performing at their best come December.

“I would say we have not played our best football collectively, offense, defense and special teams,” Campbell indicated.

The Chargers team, who will be showcased this week on Monday Night Football (Nov. 6) against the New York Jets, will be a big step for the Lions. It’s crunch time.

Right now, the Lions are No. 1 in the NFC North. But, the Vikings, even without Kirk Cousins as quarterback, are showing some surprising promise. If the Lions lose a few games, they could see themselves fall to No. 2 in the conference. It’s a surprising turn of events, as when Cousins got injured, most thought the Vikings’ season would be over. Green Bay is inching up with some wins, too, but they don’t seem to pose a real threat. The Bears, well, are the Bears. I can’t believe they’re still on the bottom, but as a Lions fan, I know the feeling.

Right now, I see the Lions making the playoffs and winning at least one game. Hopefully, I’m not jinxing it.

“So, we got to play a clean game. You know, we’ve got to come out with no turnovers. We need to get our takeaways back,” Campbell said. “We talked about red zone and those things. We need a fast start.”

Watch the full Nov. 6 Detroit Lions press conference with Campbell below. The team’s next game is Sunday (Nov. 12) against the Los Angeles Chargers.