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Head coach Dan Campbell blames poor communication in Detroit Lions’ crazy loss to Baltimore Ravens

Lions quarterback Jared Goff, left, signals to this offense before a snap in the second half against the Baltimore Ravens in Detroit on Sunday. (AP photo)

DETROIT — Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell watched the film of Sunday’s 19-17 loss to the Baltimore Ravens and there was one thing he wasn’t seeing.

On too many plays, including Lamar Jackson’s 36-yard pass to Sammy Watkins on fourth-and-19 in the final 30 seconds, Campbell couldn’t find the coordination his defense needed in the passing game.

“We had a lot of communication errors, and they were really a lack of communication more than anything else,” Campbell said. “We have to get much more demonstrative and be very clear and concise and pass along the information.

“The problems we had yesterday weren’t because of our scheme. We weren’t communicating between our linebackers and our back end and it hurt us.”

Jackson threw for 287 yards and a touchdown, but the coverage breakdowns meant it could have been much worse. Marquise Brown got open three times for what should have been touchdowns but dropped all three passes.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell listens to the result of a video review from a game official in the second half against the Baltimore Ravens in Detroit on Sunday. (AP photo)

Campbell said improving the communication will be a focus of this week’s practices, but he realizes it won’t be perfect on a young, banged-up defense.

“We’ve got a lot of babies out there and they made some young errors,” he said. “You are going to have that, but the veterans have to step up and be even louder. If I have to stop drills this week to point that out, I will.”

Despite Jackson’s passing numbers, Campbell saw some positives in the film.

“I thought our defense was much better in terms of playing with aggressiveness and focus,” he said. “I think every player on our defensive line had a winning performance. We need them to impact Lamar’s game and they did that — we got pressure, we got hits and we got sacks. I was pleased watching that.”

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