Pride of Detroit
All bark, no bite. That summarized the Detroit Lions’ Week 1 failure against the Green Bay Packers. The Lions came into this game with Super Bowl aspirations and the confidence of an NFC North champion, yet Green Bay delivered a swift wake-up call to the team: it is a long season, and nothing can be taken for granted.
Score-wise, losing 27-13 does not give off the aura of a blowout, but it was a game in which Detroit looked outmatched from the onset. Between a defense that could stop nothing and an offense that could only stop itself, it felt like a throwback to the days of a Matt Patricia-led Lions team. Instead, the 2025 season under head coach Dan Campbell faced a rocky start.
Who are the winners and losers from this NFC North tilt?
The Lions were kept in this game by their run defense. The difference between the Packers passing game and run game was night and day. When throwing the ball, they were (quite literally) untouchable. Yet for most of the game, they were doing absolutely nothing on the ground.
Entering the fourth quarter, Josh Jacobs was averaging under three yards per carry, including a drive composed of a run-run-run-punt play call. The interior of DJ Reader, Roy Lopez, and Tyleik Williams were stout at preventing any rushing lanes for a majority off the game. The linebackers, meanwhile, were delivering in rush defense as well, stopping any attempts at the second level. Jacobs finished the game with a touchdown on his 19 carries for 66 yards, but that is still an average of just 3.5 yards per attempt. Most of his success came late in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach anyway.
I still have significant concerns about the defense as a whole, but at least the run defense stood up to a fairly tough Packers run game.
Spoiler alert, but I was struggling to find any positives from the offense. If I had to give anyone kudos, it would be LaPorta. He led the team with six catches for 79 yards. He was decent as a run blocker, but his main contribution came on a pair of long receptions of 32 and 16 yards. In a game where nobody was getting open, LaPorta stood out for mostly good reasons.
I don’t care that it was garbage time, this play from TeSlaa was simply incredible.
TeSlaa was otherwise blanked from the stat sheet, but it hardly matters when so many aspects of the offense were struggling. The Lions need red zone help, and at this point, TeSlaa has demonstrated that he should be a fixture inside the 20.
Welcome to the NFL, rookie.
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