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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.
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.
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...
