It wasn’t a great opener for the Detroit Lions. And they had a running back set an unfortunate record. Therefore, is it time for the Lions to panic after a dreadful Week 1 without Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn?
The Lions lost their offensive coordinator, Johnson, in the offseason as he became head coach of the Bears. John Morton replaced him. On the defensive side of the ball, Glenn bolted for the Jets with Kelvin Sheppard taking over the coordinator role.
And Week 1 turned into pretty much a disaster with the Lions getting their lunch handed to them in a 27-13 loss to the Packers. They totaled only 246 yards of offense for a team that had arguably the NFL’s best unit in 2024.
Should Lions head coach Dan Campbell panic?
The easy answer to that question is a firm “No.” But it comes from three pathways, one perhaps surprising and the other two not.
First, it was Week 1, and that’s a big reason to shake it off. There are 16 more games left on the schedule. If the Lions finish, say, 12-5, nobody is going to worry about a bad Week 1.
Second, the Packers are good, maybe even Super Bowl good. With the addition of Micah Parsons to the defense and a terrific offense, the Packers will be tough for any NFL team to handle. Campbell gave credit to the Packers, according to USA Today.
“That team played well,” Campbell said. “Credit to them and coach LaFleur, they came out and they played outstanding. We didn't play good enough.”
Campbell also said the coaching staff shares the blame, according to ESPN.
“We didn’t coach good enough, including me,” Campbell said. “Like I told the team, it’s tough to go in and not certainly play close to your best game. You hate starting the season off with a loss, and as bad as that is, it’s not what it appears to be.”
But the third reason may be a little surprising. Campbell shouldn’t panic because he knew this was coming. You can’t lose coaches like Johnson and Glenn and expect to just roll out another 15-2 regular season. Losing both an offensive and defensive coordinator in one season is rage. According to detroitfootball.net, it has happened only five times in the past three decades.
The Lions will face growing pains. They will lose some games they shouldn’t lose. And they probably won’t reach the Super Bowl this season.
It wasn’t all bad for the Lions
Some numbers make the loss seem a little less dreadful. The Packers totaled only 20 more yards (266-246). And the Lions had missed opportunities with a 1-for-4 mark in the red zone. That needs to improve, according to detroitlions.com.
“We were patient, and I thought we moved the ball on these long drives,” quarterback Jared Goff said of three 13-play drives that resulted in only one touchdown. “If you're going to be patient, you have to score in the red zone. If you're not going to score on 60-yard touchdowns, when you get down there, you have to score touchdowns.”
Campbell said hard study before the next game will help.
“Let's clean up the tape,” Campbell said. “We made some critical errors at the worst times possible. You don't do those. (And) you take those out of the equation, it looks different. You feel like it's going to be a different scenario. But we did make those critical errors at the worst time.
“We're going to learn from it, we'll clean it up, and it gives us a little barometer of where we're at. Game 1, that's ok. It's always about improving, no matter what.”
Lions players aren't in panic mode
The players understand the situation, according to veteran left tackle Taylor Decker.
“We didn't execute our game plan at the level we were supposed to,” veteran left tackle Taylor Decker said after the game. “I can say that confidently, even not watching the film. I think we average two-something a carry. That is not up to our standard.
“You get behind in points and they get to put out there their shiny new pass rusher (Micah Parsons) with Rashan (Gary) and they put (Lukas) Van Ness inside and they get to pin their ears back. That's a challenge, especially when we have some young guys in there with communication and stuff.”
And even though the defense wasn’t awful, it needs to be better. The Lions didn't record a sack and only hit Love twice.
“They nudged the edges and made sure they hit Hutch and weren't going to let Hutch go one-on-one,” Campbell said. “That's the world he's in. He doesn't get one-on-ones. We have to be better. We have to be better.”
