Lions' Tate: Playoff heartache will help in 2015

Golden Tate was like most of his Detroit Lions teammates in that it took him awhile to come to grips with the controversial playoff loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

But now that he has, Tate said that there are lessons to be learned from that game that could propel the Lions to even better things in 2015.

"We don't go into this season with a hangover from last season," Tate said in a phone interview with the Free Press today. "We build on what we have, remember the positives through that season and just remember what we can (do) better and, if anything, learn from the situation. When you have a team down, just put them away. Put them away, don't let them hang around and don't leave the game up to the referees or anyone else but yourselves. So I think we just learn from it, but don't go out there and try to get redemption from last year."

Tate, who beat Denver Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas in the "Call of Duty" pro-am at the video game's 2015 championships Sunday in Los Angeles, said that the Lions' playoff loss to the Cowboys gnawed at him for weeks -- until his old team, the Seattle Seahawks, suffered a dramatic Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots.

The Lions lost to the Cowboys after officials overturned a pass-interference penalty on Dallas linebacker Anthony Hitchens that would have given the Lions a first down in field-goal range midway through the fourth quarter. The Cowboys scored the go-ahead touchdown on the next series, then stopped two late Lions drives for a 24-20 victory.

"Once the last game of the season had been played, which was the Super Bowl, once football season was officially over is kind of when I got over it, because you can't help but to think, if we get the correct call, what's going to happen," Tate said.

And what would have happened had that pass-interference penalty gone the Lions' way?

"You just never know," Tate said. "We'd be going to Seattle, and I think we would have matched up great against those guys, and then take it from there. You just never know."

The Lions lost the best player from their No. 2-ranked defense, Ndamukong Suh, in free agency, but Tate said that there's reason to believe they can improve on last year's 11-5 season.

Haloti Ngata replaces Suh in the middle of the defensive line, and the Lions are in the midst of overhauling their offensive front but return most other key players from last year.

Offensively, Tate said there are gains to be made from a unit that was one of the team's biggest disappointments last year.

"I think we just need to be more detailed and understanding the offense, understanding what (offensive coordinator Joe) Lombardi wants from us when he calls plays and really dig in and just understand," Tate said. "We know the plays, but do we really understand the details of them? I think, if we can do that, it'll help the quarterback and the rest of the guys on the team."

Lions coach Jim Caldwell said at the NFL owners meetings last week that he wants the Lions to throw the ball less this year and warned that a statistical decline could be coming for Tate, quarterback Matthew Stafford and others as the ball is distributed in different ways.

Tate led the Lions with 99 catches for 1,331 yards last year, but Calvin Johnson missed three games with an ankle injury, and tight end Eric Ebron figures to be a bigger part of the passing game in his second NFL season.

"At the end of the day, I want to win games, so if that means I get 30 catches for 200 yards and we end up being Super Bowl champs, so be it," Tate said. "That's what (Caldwell is) getting at, I think.

"We want to win and we have playmakers on our team, and there's some days where the receivers and cornerbacks have a tough matchup, so guys like Theo Riddick and Joique Bell have to show up big for a game and, really, we dive in and ride them for that game. Honestly, I'm not going into it thinking I want to have not as good a season. I want to have the best season of my career every single game, every single year. But first and foremost, we want to win games, so I want to fit in however they want me to fit in and do my part."

Tate said his off-season so far has mostly included basketball and weight room workouts, and his "Call of Duty" appearance. He recently threw with former Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen -- he hasn't thrown with Stafford yet this off-season but will be at the quarterback's wedding Saturday -- and said he's ready to build off his career season last year.

"Just try to build from that, try to be a little bit better," he said. "Basically try to have a few better stats and, collectively, try to help this team win a few more games. That's really all I can do is try to be a little bit better every year inside the locker room, on the field, in the weight room and what not."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.