In Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers, the Detroit Lions rushed for just 2.1 yards per carry on 22 rushes. Out of the 61 games under coach Dan Campbell in which they rushed at least 20 times in a game, that was the Lions’ second-worst output by yards per carry. The only performance worse was in 2023 against the Buccaneers (22 carries, 40 yards), when the Lions were without Jahmyr Gibbs and lost David Montgomery to injury around halftime.

Needless to say, the Lions are committed to turning things around when it comes to running the football. The ground...

The Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears will face off in Week 2, the second divisional matchup for both teams. Bears coach Ben Johnson spent the last six seasons on Detroit’s coaching staff, the most recent three as their offensive coordinator. Johnson has intimate knowledge of the Lions’ personnel and tendencies, while coach Dan Campbell has served as a mentor over the last half-decade of Johnson’s career.

So, will this friendly relationship between coaches give one an advantage over the other? Probably not, according to Campbell.

“I think we’re on equal playing ground, really,” Campbell said of his and Johnson’s familiarity...

Not much went right in the Detroit Lions’ season opener against the Green Bay Packers. It took an outrageously impressive catch from Isaac TeSlaa in the final minutes for the offense to finally find the end zone. The defense gave up 17 points on the opening three drives. Special teams produced more flags than impressive plays.

The offensive line was a massive disappointment, the pass rush was non-existent, and Detroit’s one impressive unit—their run defense—even saw some signs of fatigue at the end of the game.

Some of the Lions’ problems were almost certainly the result of rust and building...

The Detroit Lions will square off against the Chicago Bears in Week 2, their second divisional matchup in as many weeks. The Lions returned a few players injured last week to practice, and even had players injured in Week 1 practicing, but there were two starters missing from Wednesday’s activities.

Let’s take a look at Wednesday’s initial injury report and get you up to date with what we know. Note: Any changes from last week will be bolded.

Injured list updates

• OT Jamarco Jones, Reserve/IR — Season ending
• G Miles Frazier, Reserve/PUP — eligible to return in...

This week, Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson is back in town, and many around Detroit are wondering if the former Detroit Lions coordinator may have any trick plays up his sleeve for his former team.

Lions coach Dan Campbell, who has spent the last four years alongside Johnson, doesn’t seem particularly worried about the potential of getting burned by a trick play this Sunday.

“You’ll practice one or two things, you do it for every opponent. But, I don’t really care about trick plays,” Campbell said Wednesday. “Let’s just handle the meat and potatoes of an offense, a defense, what...

Every year, SB Nation tracks NFL fans’ confidence levels of their favorite teams with weekly Reacts Surveys posted at their team websites. For Pride of Detroit, we get the pleasure of gauging Detroit Lions fans’ confidence heading into each game.

Heading into Week 1, Lions fans’ confidence was very high, with 94% of fans believing the team was headed in the right direction. That number was slightly down from the Lions’ 2024 season, where they landed between 98 and 99% for the majority of weeks, but confidence was a good spot to start the season nonetheless.

Unfortunately, I have a...

While the Detroit Lions’ offense was having their own issues moving the ball downfield to open the game against the Green Bay Packers, the team’s defense had enough problems of their own.

Early in the game, Detroit was stuffing the Packers’ run game, setting up favorable down-and-distances. But their failure on four consecutive third downs—highlighted by an inept pass rush—led to the Packers scoring on all three of their first drives, and leading to a quick 17-3 lead the Lions would never challenge.

During the break of our Midweek Mailbag podcast, Erik Schlitt and I broke down what the Lions...

A wise man once said, “Sometimes it just ain’t your day.” That was the case for the Detroit Lions during their Week 1 loss to the Green Bay Packers. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all bad. There were things to like on the defensive side of the football, and even the offense, despite all of their issues along the offensive line, had stretches when they were moving the chains.

Naturally, that is where we are going to focus this week’s film study—in the trenches. Luckily for Lions fans, I think part of the reason the performance at Lambeau was...

Coming off a difficult loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 1, the Detroit Lions hope to bounce back at home to take on the Chicago Bears. Last week was a stinker, one of the worst losses the Lions have had under head coach Dan Campbell. While the score ended up being 27-13, it didn’t match what was on the field. The Lions have been blown out by opponents before under Campbell (2021 against the Philadelphia Eagles, 2022 against the New England Patriots, and 2023 against the Baltimore Ravens), but this one felt different.

The best time to correct...

On Tuesday, the Detroit Lions announced the addition of two new practice squad players and the cutting of another.

As previously reported, the Lions have signed offensive tackle Devin Cochran to the practice squad. Cochran, who stands at 6-foot-7, 330 pounds, helps round out Detroit’s offensive tackle depth after veteran Jamarco Jones suffered a season-ending injury during practice last week. Depending on the health of Dan Skipper, who missed all of last week’s practices with an undisclosed injury, Cochran could be in contention to be the team’s primary backup tackle this week against the Chicago Bears.

Additionally, the Lions signed...

When Dan Campbell was asked by 97.1 The Ticket on Tuesday morning what the one thing the Detroit Lions needed to improve upon after their lackluster performance in Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers, the fifth-year coach didn’t hesitate.

“Communication. Communication. Communication. It’s that simple,” Campbell said.

It’s a solid answer, because watching the tape from Sunday’s game, you could see there were several breakdowns in communication. Nowhere was that more evident along the offensive line, where several players had very visible missed assignments.

That has led some to question whether the Lions took the right approach in the...

Just a few short days removed from a brutal Detroit Lions loss to start the season, a video of a third-grade classroom receiving an incredible gift from the Lions may help put the pep back in your step.

You may remember her viral videos — Mary Cripper is a third-grade teacher in Miami who made national headlines for incorporating the NFL in her lessons. What started with tracking the Dolphins’ wins and losses last season became an entire curriculum she named “NFelementary.”

In a video that has nearly 1 million likes on TikTok, Crippen explains that her students sent letters...