Sportsnaut
On paper, the Detroit Lions vs Baltimore Ravens game on Sunday Night Football presented a potential Super Bowl preview. That’s not usually the prediction for a pair of teams entering the week with a 1-1 record, but with both reaching 12 or more wins a season ago, these teams have sky-high expectations in 2025.
Of course, there could be only one true winner in the Lions’ 38-30 win over the Ravens on Sunday night, but what contributed to the outcome? Below we grade the performances of Ravens coaches, quarterbacks Jared Goff and Lamar Jackson, plus more.
You can take Ben Johnson off the Lions, but you can’t take trick plays away from Dan Campbell. One of the Lions’ best plays came from a Goff handoff to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who then flipped it to Jahmyr Gibbs for the rushing touchdown, scoring before any Ravens defenders could even get a finger on him.
The @Lions executed this play perfectly pic.twitter.com/fXLdoR6NtU
— NFL (@NFL) September 23, 2025
We already know he’s going for it on every 4th-and-short scenario. The Lions executed 3-of-3 of those on Sunday night, including a 4-yard touchdown run on 4th-and-1 to take a 28-21 lead in the final frame. Goff also connected with Amon-Ra St. Brown for a 20-yard strike on 4th-and-2 when there was just 1:56 left in the game. The Lions could have easily tried to chew up the clock, but the element of surprise may have helped seal the deal.
The Ravens have the two-time MVP, but they didn’t look like the better team against the Lions. Part of that involved putting players in the right position to make plays. Having players prepared for any situation that arises, such as defending trick plays.
Other times, it’s helping them be hypersensitive to avoiding fumbles like Derrick Henry had late in the game. Overall, the Ravens were outgained 426 to 318 yards. The Lions won the time of possession battle, 33 minutes to 26 by the Ravens, and lost the turnover battle after Henry’s blunder.
The Browns may have provided the blueprint after holding the Ravens to just 45 rushing yards in Week 2. But the Lions executed the game plan to perfection too, limiting the Ravens’ powerful and quick rushing attack to just 85 rushing yards on Sunday.
They did allow Jackson to pass for 288 yards, but when you add in the fact that the Lions incredibly sacked the Ravens’ QB seven times, the overall effort is quite impressive. Only two other teams had sacked Jackson seven times in his NFL career. Add in Aidan Hutchinson’s forced fumble on Henry in the fourth to help momentum swing further in Detroit’s favor, and it’s not hard to see what propelled this victory.
A week after holding the Browns to just 17 points on 322 yards, this time the Ravens’ defense thought it would be smart to allow...
