Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions offense has dominated in each of the past three seasons. But where will they rank in 2025 after some significant offseason changes?
The Detroit Lions offense has been the biggest reason for the franchise’s resurgence over the past three years. The team just barely missed the playoffs in 2022, riding the high of the fifth-ranked offense (26.6 points per game). The next season, Detroit moved to 12-5 thanks, again, to their fifth-ranked offense (27.1). Last year, the Lions shared the NFL’s best regular season record thanks largely to owning the best offense in the NFL, averaging a whopping 33.2 points per game.
This year, it will be tough to maintain that level of dominance. It starts with the loss of offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. Say what you will about the now-Bears head coach and some of his risky play calls that hurt Detroit down the stretch, but his positive impact on the team is undeniable. He was the main architect of the offense that revived Jared Goff’s career and kept defenses guessing. While the Lions replaced him with a key member of the Lions 2022 coaching staff who helped install said offense, John Morton still has plenty to prove.
Perhaps more concerning is the shuffling parts on the offensive line. Detroit made the choice to move on from veteran guard Kevin Zeitler—a move the team could absorb with the recent drafting of Christian Mahogany, Tate Ratledge, and Miles Frazier. But the sudden retirement of center Frank Ragnow is a loss the Lions won’t be able to fix overnight.
So today’s Question of the Day is:
My answer: I’m still confident this offense will finish among the top 10.
Obviously, the offensive line shakeups are very concerning. Everything on offense starts in the trenches, particularly Detroit’s aggressive run game. The good news, however, is that the Lions have already put a significant amount of investments into the future of the offensive line. The timeline of their development is probably shorter than they expected, but Mahogany and Ratledge were likely always part of the team’s starting plans. And let’s not downplay the fact that Detroit still has one of the best tackle duos in football and a key, versatile piece in Graham Glasgow.
Beyond that, Detroit may have the best set of skill position players in the NFL. They’ve have arguably the best running back duo in the league, a top-five wide receiver, a top-five tight end, a top-10 quarterback, and a few dangerous weapons who have not reached their full potential (Jameson Williams, Isaac TeSlaa).
That’s just too much talent on that side of the ball for the Lions offense to regress beyond the top 10.
What do you think about the Lions offense? Does it still have a chance to be best in the NFL? Top-five? Or is it in danger of falling out of the top-10?
