Pride of Detroit
It’s finally here. Week 1 of the 2025 season is underway. But before we start breaking down the Detroit Lions’ opponent for the opener, the Green Bay Packers, it’s always nice to remind ourselves where this team sits from the perspective of national analysts.
Let’s take a look at this week’s power rankings:
“Here we go, man, 2025” — Dan Campbell
The Lions couldn’t have been happy to see Micah Parsons go to a very good Packers team. Detroit should still be considered a Super Bowl contender, but it first has to survive the gauntlet of the NFC North.
Injuries decimated the Lions’ defense in 2024, which led to a quick playoff exit after a dominant 15-2 regular season. The departures of coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, as well as new players on the interior offensive line, create notable uncertainties. But Detroit’s roster is still stacked with talent. I expect the Lions to contend for the top NFC seed again despite projecting them to have the toughest schedule.
I hate to rehash a tired preseason storyline, but we are about to see, in real time, just how singularly valuable a coordinator or coordinators can be to a team. And the preseason can’t sort that out for us. It’s only in real games, when Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn aren’t on the headset, that we’ll see how the Lions respond to a Dan Campbell team that was 3-13-1 the year before this staff really started to materialize together. This isn’t “hate” or “doubt,” it’s simply stating a reason why Detroit is not higher on this list.
I remembered watching the Lions’ playoff meltdown against the Commanders and wondering if they had missed their best chance to win a Super Bowl. Not that a Lombardi suddenly isn’t possible, but it feels like a farther reach. Detroit is breaking in two new coordinators and faces a monstrous schedule, including six games against dangerous NFC North teams. The already-tough Packers just added Micah Parsons, the Bears might be a real threat, and I don’t think the Vikings are going anywhere. Dan Campbell and Jared Goff will push the pedal all season, and the return of Aidan Hutchinson bodes well for the defense’s hopes. There’s a reason I still have the Lions listed first among North teams. But the other three are quickly creeping up.
The Lions are just outside the top five to start this year, but don’t take that as a sign that I’ve lost any optimism about this team. Replacing former coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn is a challenge, but this franchise has forged one of the healthiest infrastructures in the league, so I don’t...
