Joique Bell On Lions' Loss To Minnesota: 'I Take Most Of The Blame'
By Ashley Scoby
@AshleyScoby
Not much went right in the Lions' second loss of the season Sunday, 26-16 to the Vikings. But Joique Bell says to put the blame on him for Detroit moving to 0-2 on the season.
Bell had only four carries against Minnesota, which yielded a grand total of two yards. He also caught a pass for 16 yards.
"I take that game as if I could have done more," he said. "Obviously I could have done more. When you have coaches and the running game is not running too well, it can kind of get discouraging to keep running the ball if it's not going well."
Bell wasn't the only Lions running back who struggled: Ameer Abdullah rushed for nine yards on six carries and Theo Riddick only rushed once for five yards.
"I have to do a better job as far as finding the holes and making things happen," Bell said. "We can do better collectively as a group, but I take most of the blame."
To Bell, it's not about dashing off 75-yard runs every time the backs touch the ball. It's more about doing the little things right, which can add up to form a sustainable offense - something that's been lacking the past couple of weeks. The team combined for 16 rushes for 38 total yards on the ground, which was just over a quarter of what Adrian Peterson rushed for by himself against the Lions (134 yards off 29 carries).
Needless to say, you don't win games in the NFL with 38 rushing yards clogging your box score.
"It's not about doing extraordinary things; it's about doing the ordinary things extraordinarily well," Bell said. "You don't have to go above and beyond. You just need to do the simple things.
After opening up this season with two straight road games at San Diego and at Minnesota, the Lions return home this weekend to take on the Broncos. Bell said that the chance to come back home to Ford Field will be a needed boost for this winless team.
"We've been on the road far too long," he said. "It'll be my first home game back here since 2014 so I'm excited to come back home and have that electricity going through the building and have our fans there cheering us on and just being able to be a part of the crowd. I can't wait to hop in the stands and do my dance."