Let’s continue our look back at the Detroit Lions’ first seven weeks of the 2025 NFL season.
At the beginning of the season, there were plenty of expectations for the Lions. Despite the change in coordinators, most expected the Lions to maintain a top-five offense due to their overwhelming amount of talent. Breakout years were predicted from players like Jack Campbell. And, of course, the Lions were expected to compete for one of the top spots in the NFL. Check, check, and check.
But not everything has gone as expected through seven weeks. So today’s Question of the Day is:
What has been the Lions’ biggest surprise through 7 weeks?
My answer: I’m going to go with one positive surprise and one negative one. Starting out with the negative, it was certainly surprising to see second-year cornerback Terrion Arnold struggle when healthy. While I think some of his negative play has been exaggerated, even that has been a shock compared to where he appeared to be in training camp. And it wasn’t just media hyping him up. Just about every teammate and coach who was asked about Arnold said he looked like a reborn player ready for a breakout season. But to start the season, Arnold started to draw flags again and gave up too many big plays. Hopefully, with him expected to return to the lineup soon, Arnold can change the narrative on his sophomore season.
As for positive surprises, I’m going to say the impressive start to Kelvin Sheppard’s defensive coordinator career. To be clear, I’m not all that surprised he’s successful. The Lions were clearly grooming him for this position, and Sheppard has always struck me as a great teacher and motivator.
But what I didn’t expect was some serious departure from Aaron Glenn’s ways. While the core principles of the defense remain the same, Sheppard has been way more flexible week-to-week. In addition to that, he’s given more responsibility to the players, and it feels like he’s a little more forward-thinking, particularly when it comes to things like using a QB spy.
I never thought just seven weeks into the season I would no longer be that afraid of mobile quarterbacks, and that speaks to Sheppard’s ability to game plan exceedingly well against some of the best quarterbacks in the league (Chiefs game excluded).
What has been your biggest surprise of the Lions’ season so far, both pleasant and otherwise? Share your thoughts in the comment section at the bottom of the page.
