All bark, no bite. That summarized the Detroit Lions’ Week 1 failure against the Green Bay Packers. The Lions came into this game with Super Bowl aspirations and the confidence of an NFC North champion, yet Green Bay delivered a swift wake-up call to the team: it is a long season, and nothing can be taken for granted.
Score-wise, losing 27-13 does not give off the aura of a blowout, but it was a game in which Detroit looked outmatched from the onset. Between a defense that could stop nothing and an offense that could only stop itself, it felt like a throwback to the days of a Matt Patricia-led Lions team. Instead, the 2025 season under head coach Dan Campbell faced a rocky start.
Who are the winners and losers from this NFC North tilt?
Winners
Run defense
The Lions were kept in this game by their run defense. The difference between the Packers passing game and run game was night and day. When throwing the ball, they were (quite literally) untouchable. Yet for most of the game, they were doing absolutely nothing on the ground.
Entering the fourth quarter, Josh Jacobs was averaging under three yards per carry, including a drive composed of a run-run-run-punt play call. The interior of DJ Reader, Roy Lopez, and Tyleik Williams were stout at preventing any rushing lanes for a majority off the game. The linebackers, meanwhile, were delivering in rush defense as well, stopping any attempts at the second level. Jacobs finished the game with a touchdown on his 19 carries for 66 yards, but that is still an average of just 3.5 yards per attempt. Most of his success came late in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach anyway.
I still have significant concerns about the defense as a whole, but at least the run defense stood up to a fairly tough Packers run game.
Sam LaPorta, TE
Spoiler alert, but I was struggling to find any positives from the offense. If I had to give anyone kudos, it would be LaPorta. He led the team with six catches for 79 yards. He was decent as a run blocker, but his main contribution came on a pair of long receptions of 32 and 16 yards. In a game where nobody was getting open, LaPorta stood out for mostly good reasons.
Isaac TeSlaa, WR
I don’t care that it was garbage time, this play from TeSlaa was simply incredible.
TeSlaa was otherwise blanked from the stat sheet, but it hardly matters when so many aspects of the offense were struggling. The Lions need red zone help, and at this point, TeSlaa has demonstrated that he should be a fixture inside the 20.
Welcome to the NFL, rookie.
Losers
John Morton, offensive coordinator
Morton and Kelvin Sheppard had large shoes to fill following the offseason departures of Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn. The optimism was that despite losing both coordinators, the talent on offense and defense were relatively intact. If anything, things were improved following new acquisitions and players returning from injury.
When all aspects of team struggles, blame has to be centered on the coaching staff. The offense was outright brutal to watch. The previously-elite run game looked toothless, with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery averaging less than three yards per carry—this was despite Green Bay trading away their best run defender in Kenny Clark. The offensive line was simply failing to muster any downfield push. The interior was getting stonewalled, rendering any runs up the gut dead on arrival. When Gibbs tried to bounce outside, there was rarely any room to operate.
The passing game, meanwhile, looked scared. Rarely were the Lions able to push the ball downfield. Jameson Williams, fresh off a sizeable new contract, was an afterthought. Amon-Ra St. Brown had a clutch sideline catch and three first downs, but that was the extent of his impact. Penei Sewell had his hands full with Micah Parsons, but he was not a world-beater like the scoreboard might indicate. Jared Goff was forced to check downs and short gains on nearly every drive.
There are a lot of people to blame, but I think Morton has to shoulder the most. The offense looked outmatched, something that a team this talented has no right to be.
Kelvin Sheppard, defensive coordinator
The defense had more positives than the offense, but it was still a net negative for the unit.
Pass rush was a question mark entering the season and it reared its head early in Green Bay. Neither Aidan Hutchinson nor Marcus Davenport made a dent in the Packers offensive line, failing to register a sack on the day. The defensive line struggled with pressure, never rattling Jordan Love throughout the game. This lack of pass rush haunted the secondary, giving receivers plenty of time to get open and do damage.
Much like the offense, there are multiple defenders that deserve criticism. Some of the calls, however, really baffled me. On multiple occasions, Hutchinson or Davenport dropped into coverage and blitzed a linebacker. This ended up accomplishing neither a pass rush nor adequate coverage, essentially wasting your top linemen by having them stand in empty space.
For all the good that we expected from the defense, they simply looked bewildered. The Packers were not dialing up exotic schemes, it was simply a case of losing battles outright. Sheppard needs to rally his troops.
Offensive line
The hallmark of the Lions offense was its offensive line. Successful blocking allowed for the run game to explode. Successful blocking allowed Goff and his receivers to get open and do damage. Yet entering 2025, the Lions had a significant overhaul following the retirement of Frank Ragnow and the departure of Kevin Zeitler. For the first time in many years, the offensive line looks like a serious concern.
Penei Sewell had one of the worst games of his career. Even when he was not facing Parsons, he was on skates far too often. Decker similarly struggled, allowing a sack that nearly resulted in a safety. The real negative on the day was from the interior. Christian Mahogany looked like a sixth-round pick with two career starts. Graham Glasgow looked out of his element at center. Tate Ratledge was arguably the best lineman on the day, but it was still a trial by fire for the rookie.
The Lions took a massive gamble this offseason by relying on two inexperienced guards and an aged, out-of-position center. What was previously a strength of the team looks like a glaring weakness after one game.
Dave Fipp, Special teams coordinator
The offensive and defensive coordinators will garner most of the negative spotlight, but the special teams crew has quietly been awful over the past few months. Penalties were prevalent throughout preseason, amid other blunders like fumbles or missed blocks. That trend has continued into the regular season. The Lions again incurred penalties on special teams that drastically altered drives. A false start penalty undid a massive punt from Jack Fox, a redo that wound up resulting in a 30-yard swing for Green Bay. The return game was lackluster, with Grant Stuard and Jacob Saylors failing to top 25 yards on any of their returns. Kalif Raymond, meanwhile, committed an uncharacteristic mistake by burning over 10 seconds on an end-of-half punt return.
It is bizarre that a team with so many talented special teamers are struggling with fundamentals. Fipp has led some of the better coverage units in the league, yet 2025 has been a notable struggle thus far.
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