Whenever we talk about preseason football—whether it’s the exhibition games or training camp practices—it always comes back to a very basic question: Does this actually mean anything? Ask any Detroit Lions fan, and they’ll remind you 100 times over that the 2008 Lions went 4-0 in the preseason and 0-16 in the regular season. Beyond that, training camp overreactions run rampant every single year, as the internet goes crazy over three-second clips that PROVE their new draft pick is going to wear a gold jacket one day.
But when a team absolutely obliterates the other for over two hours of joint practices, does that carry a little more weight? Because on Wednesday, it didn’t look like the Miami Dolphins belonged in the same league as the Lions—on offense or on defense. Is that a sign that Detroit’s success will continue in 2025? Or is it evidence that the Mike McDaniels era in Miami could be coming to an end? Or is it all just an overreaction to one single practice?
We discuss that and a lot more on this week’s PODcast.
But let’s bring a little of that discussion to this article. Obviously, the success of the Lions’ offense against the Dolphins’ defense was a much-needed sigh of relief for some fans. The offense has struggled for much of training camp, and there were some feelings that the new combination on the offensive line and change at offensive coordinator could take some of the electricity out of Detroit’s high-powered offense. Seeing them dominate the Dolphins was a pleasant reminder that the offensive roster is full of all-stars.
However, I feel like I actually learned more about the Lions’ offense by seeing the defensive performance against Miami. Seeing Detroit’s secondary—short of both Kerby Joseph and Terrion Arnold—shut down the Dolphins offense (who were admittedly without Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle for most of practice) further validates that much of Detroit’s slow start on offense can be explained by a really, really good defense they’re going against every single day. The Lions’ defensive front was just as disruptive, too.
Of course, all of that could change on Thursday if the Dolphins come out with a little more fire. But, for now, Lions fans are—and should be—feeling pretty good.
We talk about all of that on this week’s episode. Our discussion includes defensive standouts from Wednesday, Amon-Ra St. Brown’s dominance, debating whether Detroit should keep three quarterbacks, and previewing the biggest storylines in Saturday’s upcoming preseason game.
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