Sports
Detroit Lions' Jared Goff (Photo: Detroit Lions' Jeff Nguyen)
If you were one of the many Detroit Lions fans who expected to see a Super Bowl–ready team Sunday at Lambeau Field, you saw anything but that in the 27–13 loss to the Green Bay Packers in the first game of the season.
The offensive line was ineffective, failing to give quarterback Jared Goff enough protection or the running backs enough holes to showcase their talent. Meanwhile, the defensive line—particularly in the first half—gave Packers quarterback Jordan Love far too much time to connect with his receivers.
"We didn't coach good enough, including me, and we didn't play good enough," Lions Coach Dan Campbell said at a press conference after the gtame. (See video below)
Rookie Isaac TeSlaa catches only touchdown (Detroit Lions photo/Jeff Nguen)
"Like I told the team, it's tough to go in and not certainly play close to your best game. You hate starting out the season with a loss, and as bad as that is, it's not what it appears to be.
He went on to say: "We made some critical errors at the worst times possible, and if you don't do those, you take those out of the equation, it looks different. You feel like it could be a different scenario. But we did make those critical errors at the worst times."
The Lions could have turned the game around, but penalties and missed interceptions sealed a rather painful loss.
Here's what some writers had to say:
Richard Silva, Detroit News:
Jared Goff was his typical, efficient self in the first half, completing 13 of his 16 attempts. Business as usual, right? Wrong. The Lions were incredibly conservative, with Goff's yards per attempt in the opening two frames (4.7) coming in well below what he posted last year, when he finished top five in MVP voting (8.6, second-highest in the NFL). Goff also had a costly mistake in the red zone, throwing an interception to safety Evan Williams.
Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press:
I wouldn’t put all the blame for the dismal offensive performance on (Offensive Coach John) Morton, the Lions didn’t show any of the creativity or explosiveness they were known for under Johnson in Morton’s play-calling debut.
Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press:
Playing with two new coordinators and a revamped offensive line, nothing went right for Detroit. The Lions couldn’t run the ball. Couldn’t protect Jared Goff, who was sacked four times. Couldn’t stop Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love (especially in the first half). Meanwhile, the Packers. … Oh, my goodness. They were dominant.
While this doesn’t end the season for the Lions, there were plenty of red flags and reasons to be concerned. On this day, the Packers were clearly the better team. Better coached. Better in the trenches. Just. Plain. Better.
And the Lions have a ton of work to do, just to get Green Bay's level.
Colton Pouncy, The Athletic:
Detroit’s young offensive line was overmatched — both in pass protection and in the run game. Defensively, the Lions bottled up the run game, but Green Bay didn’t need it. Detroit’s pass rush was borderline non-existent, and Green Bay took advantage of good field position to hang 27. The Lions were outplayed. A lot to clean up for Campbell and company.
Christian Booher, Sports Illustrated:
The Detroit Lions' regular season opener was underwhelming for a fan base eager to watch this year's edition of Dan Campbell's team.
Traveling to Lambeau Field, the Lions started slowly on both sides of the ball and were unable to generate much in the way of positive momentum. Ultimately, a mix of untimely mistakes and sloppy performance spelled doom for a team that is believed to be a Super Bowl contender.
Max Gerber, Pride of Detroit:
Third-round pick Isaac TeSlaa is deserving of this week’s game ball. Not only was his fourth-quarter reception his first career catch, but it also got Detroit their first and only touchdown of the game. It’s commonplace for an NFL player to keep the ball from their first score in the league, so it’s only fitting that TeSlaa gets the nod here from Pride of Detroit as well.
Candace Pedraza, Side Lion Report:
Graham Glasgow was handed a nearly impossible task this offseason after being signed by the Detroit Lions. The returning guard was suddenly thrust into a competition for the center position with rookie Tate Ratledge after the retirement of star center Frank Ragnow shocked the Lions fanbase.
Glasgow clearly looked good enough in camp to take the position in earnest from Ratledge, but we saw nothing that would show why he won that job in the Lions' embarrassing 27-13 loss against the Green Bay Packers on the road in Week 1. The longest run of the game for the Lions was for six yards from Jahmyr Gibbs, who could barely punch out anything from what the line was providing him.
Tim Twentyman, DetroitLions.com:
Detroit looked like a team breaking in three new starters along their offensive line that includes a second-year player making just his third career start and rookie making his first.
Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press:
There’s a reason that game tape from Week 1 in the NFL should be labeled “for educational purposes only.” It’s often ugly, frequently inaccurate, and very quickly worthy only of being thrown away. In the case of the Lions-Green Bay season opener, very far away. I’m thinking Madagascar.
The Lions are better than this. Heck, the Akron Rubber Ducks are better than this. If Sunday’s tape had been Steven Spielberg’s first film, he’d be an accountant right now. The Lions laid an egg, painted it lemon, and rolled it into Garbage Town.
Bob Wojnowski, Detroit News:
The Lions weren’t ready for this, not even close. They weren’t ready for anything Green Bay brought, not on offense, not on defense, not on special teams, not in the coaching game plan.
This was an early awakening, an especially rude one. We wondered how difficult the transition would be — two new offensive linemen, two new coordinators, plenty of new challenges — and the first answer hit like a hangover. The Lions did things we’ve rarely seen the past three seasons, and all the whispered fears were on sloppy display against a division rival.
The best news? It was only the opener, just 0-1 in the standings. The troubling news? The Packers were tougher in the trenches, more composed and more aggressive.