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BALTIMORE — Maybe, just maybe, the Detroit Lions are still an NFL powerhouse.

That did not seem likely when both of their coveted coordinators exited in the offseason following a gut punch of a playoff loss. It did not appear possible when the Lions began the season with a decidedly underwhelming loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.

But Monday night at M&T Bank Stadium, the Lions of 2025 did a convincing impersonation of the Lions of 2024. There was offensive ingenuity. Coach Dan Campbell provided fourth-down bravado. The defense did its part. And the Lions bested a would-be Super Bowl contender on the road by outlasting the Baltimore Ravens, 38-30.

“That’s a good win for us, you know,” Campbell said. “I don’t know [about] statement, all this and that. But it just feels good to know against a type of team like that, you play a different type of game and you’re able to find a way to win.”

In improving to 2-1, the Lions produced touchdown drives of 98 and 96 yards. They converted all three of their fourth-down attempts. They crafted a go-ahead touchdown on the opening play of the fourth quarter when, on fourth and one from the Baltimore 4-yard line, quarterback Jared Goff handed the ball to wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who pitched it to tailback Jahmyr Gibbs for a dash to the corner of the end zone. Earlier, there was a completion by Goff after he pitched the ball to tailback David Montgomery, then Montgomery threw a cross-field lateral back to Goff.

And with the game on the line with two minutes to play, Campbell dialed up more fourth-down daring. With a seven-point lead on fourth and two, the Lions could have punted from their 49-yard line and hoped their defense could close out the victory. Instead, Campbell leaned on his offense. Goff lofted a pass to St. Brown for a 20-yard completion, and Montgomery’s 31-yard touchdown sprint with 1:42 left put an exclamation point on the outcome.

“I know they trust me,” Goff said. “And I trust St. Brown. So put the game in our hands, and we’ll make it work. We’ve done it before.”

More important, they’re still doing it now.

“I’ve got a tremendous amount of trust in those guys,” Campbell said. “And that’s been built up now [for] five years. … It’s a thing of beauty, man.”

The Lions ran for 224 yards and four touchdowns. They didn’t commit a turnover, and Goff wasn’t sacked. He was barely touched in the pocket. Meanwhile, Detroit sacked Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson seven times and forced a fumble by tailback Derrick Henry.

Jackson threw three touchdown passes, and Henry provided a rushing score. But it wasn’t enough for the Ravens to keep pace as their record dropped to 1-2 ahead of a road game Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Lions will spend the entire season trying to prove they did not allow their best chance to secure the franchise’s first Super Bowl berth slip away last season. They had the swagger and confidence that came from Campbell’s aggressive coaching. They had two of the league’s top coordinators, with Ben Johnson’s creativity on offense and Aaron Glenn’s problem-solving on defense. The offense, as drawn up by Johnson and implemented by Goff, was unstoppable at times. Pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson was a defensive player of the year candidate.

But it never was quite the same after Hutchinson’s season was ended by a broken leg. Injuries accumulated on defense to the point that merely patching together a lineup was challenging. The Lions beat the Minnesota Vikings in the final game of the NFL regular season to secure the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed with a 15-2 record, but their run ended with a stunning divisional-round defeat at home to the Washington Commanders.

Campbell’s top coaching lieutenants departed for head coaching jobs, Johnson with the Chicago Bears and Glenn with the New York Jets. Campbell rebuilt his coaching staff, promoting linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard to succeed Glenn and bringing back former offensive assistant John Morton to replace Johnson.

“We’re running some different scheme slightly,” Goff said. “And being able to win down the field on certain routes that are new to us and win in certain run-game stuff that’s new to us, I think it’s great.”

The Lions opened the season with a 14-point loss at Green Bay but then put up 52 points on Johnson and the Bears in a Week 2 triumph. They remained on a roll Monday.

“I knew we were a good team,” Hutchinson said. “And I know people were doubting us after that Green Bay game. … Every week, we’ve got to bring our ‘A’ game. We brought it today, and it paid off.”

The Lions did so many good things in the first half. They had touchdown drives of 11 and 18 plays, the second of which gobbled up nearly 11 minutes. They had possession of the ball for nearly 20 minutes of the first half. And yet the score was tied at 14 at halftime.

The Ravens moved in front with Jackson’s third-quarter touchdown pass to tight end Mark Andrews. But the Lions scored the next 14 points via Goff’s touchdown pass to St. Brown and Gibbs’s gadget-play touchdown run.

“That was a play that we’ve practiced for a few years now,” Goff said. “And I don’t know if we’ve ever called it. But it was good timing for it, and it worked perfectly.”

The Lions never trailed thereafter.

“We know what we’ve got here,” Campbell said. “We don’t need anybody telling us what we do or don’t have. … We feel good about it. And, look, it takes everybody doing their job. And our guys did that.”

BALTIMORE — It took two weeks.

Two weeks.

After an offseason in which two of the best coordinators in football landed head-coaching jobs and took half the staff with them, after their All-Pro center retired and a stalwart right guard exited in free agency, and after they were annihilated by the Green Bay Packers in Week 1.

It took exactly two weeks for the Detroit Lions to become the best show on television once again.

Some could even argue it was true a week ago, when the Lions dismantled the Chicago Bears at home, but if you were holding out on buying all the way in because you questioned the strength of competition, well, sorry. You’ve got no choice but to believe now.

This game was complete and total confirmation that the Lions, as we knew them, are here to stay as long as Dan Campbell is the man in charge.

There are no remaining questions about the transition to coordinators John Morton and Kelvin Sheppard. Dead are the theories that it was actually Ben Johnson who was the mastermind of Detroit’s success. This team is every bit as much of a threat to win the Super Bowl as they were last season before the injury struggles set in.

“We have an identity, we have a culture, and nothing’s gonna change that,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said on Tuesday. “I thought Shep did a hell of a job in preparation and calling the game and the players, man, really responded. … John Morton, man. What a great job. And every week they’ve gotten better and better and better, and we’re all figuring each other out now in those roles.”

Detroit led the league in net yards (426) for the second week in a row and was also first in rush yards (224), touchdowns (five) and Expected Points Added per play (+0.31).

Defensively, they fed Lamar Jackson one of the most maddening days of his career, sacking the two-time MVP seven times. According to Jackson himself, there were no crazy tricks or schemes deployed by Sheppard, just a solid plan that was executed at the highest level — and one that is more sustainable than a wacky, new scheme with limited shelf life.

“They were just executing,” Jackson said. “That’s all it was.”

Let’s get the caveats out of the way: Yes, the Ravens were missing their two best pass rushers, which probably played a factor in the offensive line keeping Jared Goff clean for a second straight game. Yes, the Lions still gave up 30 points.

But the fact of the matter is that the Lions made plays at every critical juncture, just as they did all of last season, and looked pretty awesome doing it.

The Lions were three-for-three on fourth down, converting a goal-to-go situation with a tricky pitch play to Jahmyr Gibbs to go up 28-21 and drawing up a 20-yard completion to help ice the game on Detroit’s final drive. The Lions used aggression to seal the game on fourth-and-2 near midfield on a 20-yard completion to Amon-Ra St. Brown.

The offensive line rose from serviceable to elite once again. Offensive tackle Penei Sewell was Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded offensive lineman (98.7) in the league in Week 3; guard Tate Ratledge was fourth (91.4) and tackle Taylor Decker was ninth (82.9).

The defense registered a combined 30 pressures, according to PFF, while getting off the field in three plays or less on three different series in the second half.

Both teams left a few big plays on the table, but every football game generally comes down to five or six plays, and it’s usually the better team on the winning side of them. The Lions were that team Monday night, and it’s reasonable to expect them to remain that team going forward.

• Lions cornerback D.J. Reed has so far proven himself worthy of the three-year, $48 million contract he earned in free agency. As Terrion Arnold has struggled to find his footing in Year 2, Reed has been extremely dependable, helping limit the damage as Detroit’s secondary continues to jell.

He’s shown rapid improvement each week — he admittedly wasn’t great in coverage against Green Bay — and put it all together in Sunday’s win, when he allowed just one catch on three targets for a total of seven yards with a pass breakup. Baltimore receiver Zay Flowers, Reed’s top assignment on Monday, had just two catches for 13 yards.

“I thought he did a heck of a job, man. He’s been great for us,” Campbell said. “He’s one of the most veteran guys we have with the exception of (cornerback) Amik (Robertson), who we got last year.”

Reed has also been one of the team’s best run defenders. He had another five tackles with a fumble recovery on Monday after making five tackles the week prior.

“He’s got skins on the wall, he’s a vet, he does it right, he’s a pro. He’s competitive, and I mean, he’s fit right in with us,” Campbell said. “He’s been great for all those guys in the room, great teammate. He’s all about ball.”

• Lions linebacker Jack Campbell has hit a new stride in 2025. He was a dominant force in every phase on Monday night, finishing with a team-high eight tackles with a strip-sack of Jackson on fourth-and-goal.

He played a massive role in helping limit the production of Baltimore running back Derrick Henry, who, outside of a 28-yard rushing touchdown in the opening quarter, had 11 carries for 22 yards.

“First of all, did anybody see Jack’s got a laceration on his mouth? So he’s trying to call plays and blood’s spitting out everywhere, so they were just eating it up,” Campbell said. “This guy, man. He’s a workaholic, and the knowledge for the game, the way he studies the game, he prepares for it, and he’s just playing at a really high level right now.

“We feel like he can do it all. That’s why he doesn’t come off the field. I mean, he can do everything for us.”

• Alright, now let’s quickly talk about some negatives. The Lions beat the Ravens in spite of a poor performance across the board on special teams. The Lions started two drives inside their own 5-yard line, which would ultimately become a point of pride, but was definitely not what you want to see in the moment.

Baltimore ran its third kickoff back to the Baltimore 49-yard line and might have gone the distance had kicker Jake Bates not made the play. The Ravens began a third-quarter drive at the 40 after a kickoff from Bates when out of bounds.

And then, the penalties. Detroit was flagged eight times for 68 yards compared to three penalties for 31 yards called on Baltimore. All of that combined is a tough recipe for winning on the road.

The Lions obviously made it work, but one has to imagine cleaning up those two areas will be a focal point of the week.

ALLEN PARK — A few short weeks ago, it was easy to believe that Ben Johnson’s return to Ford Field would be a high-intensity slugfest between teams looking to establish dominance as the division’s top dog.

Instead, both teams are simply hoping to avoid starting 0-2 on the season and in the NFC North. The Lions lost at Green Bay, 27-13, on Sunday, and the Bears blew a second-half lead to fall, 27-24, to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night.

That certainly does not lessen the stakes in a matchup between the apprentice, Johnson, and his coaching master, Dan Campbell. If anything, it might amplify them.

“We’re going in, getting ready to play Chicago, we’re going to win this game, we have to,” Campbell said earlier this week. “We’ve got to find a way to clean things up and do what we’ve got to do and they’re going to try to do the same thing. It’s like every week.”

After three successful seasons guiding the Lions’ offense, Johnson took the next step in his career by becoming the coach of the Bears in January. From 2022-24, the Lions were first in points scored and net yards.

There doesn’t appear to be any bad blood about Johnson choosing to further his career in the same division as Detroit. But Lions general manager Brad Holmes did say on an episode of the Green Light Podcast that he wondered, “Why Chicago?” when Johnson initially departed.

Earlier this week, Campbell called Johnson “my friend” and said, “Nothing about that’s going to change.” The two go back even further than their time spent in Detroit (2021-24). Campbell and Johnson overlapped for four seasons (2012-15) in Miami, where Campbell was primarily the tight ends coach and Johnson was an assistant quarterbacks coach. When Campbell became Miami’s interim head coach in 2015, Johnson assumed his duties as the tight end coach.

“We texted back and forth a few weeks ago. We have been in touch. That friendship is always going to be there. I view him like family, and I think he would tell you the same thing. That’ll never change,” Johnson said this week. “We have fond memories of back when I was just a young snot-nosed computer punk, as he likes to call it, in Miami. I feel like we have both grown up in this profession of coaching.”

But while there might not be any bad blood between the two staffs, Johnson’s decision to continue his career in a place where he’d play the Lions twice a year — and stand directly in the way of the Lions achieving their goals — has left a bad taste in the mouth of some fans.

Johnson classified his choice to go to Chicago as “a tough decision.”

“Everything, last year, ran through my head. That was one of the unfortunate parts of making that decision, you were saying goodbye to a lot of friends and a great place. My family, myself, we have a lot of strong relationships there in that community,” Johnson said this week.

“Hopefully, that continues to stay that way, as well. But, we felt like this was the best opportunity for myself and my family, and we were really excited about coming to Chicago. At times, you have to make tough decisions, and that’s really how that one went down.”

From an on-the-field standpoint, Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said it’ll be just like training camp. Sheppard was the team’s linebackers coach when Johnson was engaging in those intense, daily battles against former defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, but he knows Johnson well all the same.

Asked what Johnson’s strengths are, Sheppard said, “Everything. Next question.”

“Listen, we all understand and respect Ben Johnson as a person, more importantly, but also as a play caller,” Sheppard said. “It’s why he got afforded the opportunity he’s in and we all understand this.”

Johnson was (and still is) a highly calculated man who pay the utmost attention to the details. Lions linebacker Jack Campbell provided proof of this.

He told reporters on Friday that he’d been asking guys on the offensive side of the ball about Johnson’s offense and what some potential points of emphasis would be.

Asked to elaborate, Campbell said, “I don’t know. I know Ben’s gonna read this, or some Chicago Bears person is gonna read this,” before moving on to the next question.

On the offensive side of the ball, several players spoke about what Johnson did for their careers.

“I love Ben. I’ll never really have anything bad to say about him because of what he did for me as a player, what he did for this team,” receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown said. “I remember, when I first got here as a rookie, he was a tight ends coach. They promoted him, to I think pass game coordinator, my rookie year.

“I feel like ever since he stepped in that role, I got more catches, more opportunities. He believed in me. He trusted me. And just seeing the work ethic that he had, I respect him as a coach, as a man. I love Ben, but there’s two games out of the year where I want him to fail.”

Lions receiver Jameson Williams, who was with Johnson for the first three years of his career, called Johnson “a great guy.”

“He taught me a lot, how to approach the game, how to learn the game, we talked a lot. I talked to him a couple times this offseason, just checking up on my little guy over there, (Bears rookie receiver) Luther Burden III, my little brother. They got (former Lions receiver Maurice Alexander) over there, so I was just calling him and I end up talking to Ben somehow,” Williams said, laughing.

“But I appreciate everything he’s done for me. He’s helped me a lot.”

Ultimately, an intimate knowledge of each other’s tendencies is not likely to enhance either side’s chances of winning the game, Dan Campbell said. He’s not getting caught up in worrying about Johnson’s trick plays, or what he might do to throw the Lions off their game. Both coaches reiterated in some form, “This game is about us.”

“I think we’re on equal playing ground really. I think it’s the same thing. He knows what we’re about, we know what he’s about and because of that you’re going to play that game a little bit,” Campbell said. “But the game doesn’t matter if you don’t master the basics inside the game, and so that’s what we have to get back to.”

That might be true, but the familiarity will certainly make the contest a lot more enjoyable to watch.

ALLEN PARK — John Morton is in lockstep with his head coach: The Detroit Lions aren’t panicking.

The offensive output in Sunday’s season-opening loss at the Green Bay Packers fell well below expectations. But Morton, in his first year as offensive coordinator, insisted Thursday his unit’s issues are fixable, and he’s assured the overarching problems present at Lambeau Field will be taken care of by the time the Chicago Bears visit Ford Field for Week 2.

“We have great players,” Morton said. “That’s why I’m confident.”

Particularly, the run game must improve. The Lions averaged a measly 2.1 yards per carry against the Packers, their worst since October 2023, when they beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a game Jahmyr Gibbs missed with a hamstring injury. Gibbs and David Montgomery have never been less productive in a game both participated in than they were against the Packers.

Much of Detroit’s struggles can be connected to miscommunication. On a number of plays, at least one member of the offensive line was not mentally in line with his teammates. Sometimes, it was multiple players at fault. And it wasn’t just a youth issue. Rookie right guard Tate Ratledge and left guard Christian Mahogany, playing in the first and third career games, respectively, had their fair share of concerns. But so did some of the veterans, according to Morton.

Take the near safety at the start of the fourth quarter as an example. Ratledge allowed defensive tackle Colby Wooden to come through unblocked, drawing the ire of those who watched the replay. Left tackle Taylor Decker revealed Wednesday he was also incorrect on that rep, as he ran the same play Ratledge did. Mahogany, center Graham Glasgow and right tackle Penei Sewell were on a different page.

Those are the type of correctable mistakes Morton identified on tape.

“It’s addressed,” Morton said. “It’s going to be fixed.”

Asked why he’s confident in the run game improving, Morton said, “Because we’re doing plays that they’ve done. Now, there’s some young guys, right? We’ve just got to make sure we give them the right looks, all the different type of right looks, and to make sure they know exactly what they’re doing. And that’s what we’ve done.”

Head coach Dan Campbell said Monday there may have been too much put on the players’ plates too early, and dialing things back some against the Bears could be beneficial. It’s about getting back to the fundamentals. The meat and potatoes, if you will.

“We did an extra period in the runs this week, and I think it’s going to help,” Morton said. “I think that’s what you’ve got to do. It’s an easy fix. Again, we’re not in panic mode. But 2.1 (yards per carry), that ain’t gonna cut it. It should never happen.”

Chicago’s defense doesn’t posses the talent of Green Bay’s, especially so if some starters who missed Week 1 (cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon, and linebacker T.J. Edwards) aren’t available. Johnson (calf/groin) returned to practice Wednesday. Edwards (hamstring) was limited and Gordon (hamstring) did not practice.

Morton and Campbell are also familiar with the scheme, having worked with defensive coordinator Dennis Allen in New Orleans. It’s similar to what the Lions run defensively, with an emphasis on man coverage. That’s different than the Packers, who often play zone and drop seven defenders in coverage.

“Last game, the best thing about that is it’s the first game of the season. Nobody’s in panic mode,” Morton said. “The players have been awesome, great attitudes. We’ve had great preparation, just like we did last week. The bottom line is it’s just about execution and the details of everything. … How do we fix this? We’re in the fix-it business, as coaches. Dan’s been awesome, players have been awesome. We had a good practice yesterday, and we’re moving on to Chicago.”

ALLEN PARK — Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard admitted he was “pissed” after his defense gave up 27 points in Sunday’s opener against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.

But like a lot of the chatter coming out of the team facility this week, Sheppard emphasized he’s not as discouraged after having some time to digest the performance. According to Sheppard, the metrics out of Sunday’s game were encouraging — even if the Lions‘ offense couldn’t match them, resulting in a 27-13 loss to begin the season.

Sheppard acknowledged some necessary areas of improvement while making the case his defense truly did buckle down in the second half of Sunday’s game.

“Coming off the field, you guys know, ultra-competitive nature of the game. My temperament and things, I was pissed,” Sheppard said. “And I’m ready to scowl at everybody, but then you sit back and look at it and after the second time and after the third time, you go, ‘There’s a lot of good football on this tape.’”

He started with the passing defense, which allowed 188 yards and two touchdowns from Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who went 16-for-22 through the air for a passer rating of 128.6. Love was efficient and hit on big plays when the Lions’ defense presented him with opportunities to do so. Sheppard said he’s more than happy to give up just 188 yards of passing, which tied for 18th among all quarterbacks in Week 1.

Sheppard was upset by the two-play drive that gave Green Bay a 17-3 lead in the second quarter. Cornerback Terrion Arnold was the closest defender on both a 48-yard completion to Romeo Doubs and a 17-yard touchdown pass to Michigan State product Jayden Reed. Outside of that, he was satisfied by the passing defense — but it’s worth noting Green Bay threw the ball just six times in the second half.

“We went into the game saying, ‘You’ve got to make these guys beat us,’ Sheppard said. “You cannot give them things because that’s when they thrive. You have to make them beat us, and we did not do that on back-to-back plays. Inexcusable, and that’s been addressed.”

Asked about the team’s lack of consistent pass rush, Sheppard said the team wasn’t given many opportunities to get home, and also praised its ability to keep Love in the pocket.

It’s the second part that’s worth paying attention to: The Lions seemingly put more effort into containing Love as a rusher than disrupting his flow in the passing game. On second-and-9 in the red zone on the Packers’ opening drive, Aidan Hutchinson got the one-on-one he wanted after Roy Lopez stunted to eat a double team, only for Hutchinson to hover at the line of scrimmage like a point guard defending the perimeter as Love threw an incompletion to Doubs.

“Go back with your stopwatch and turn on the pass plays, they weren’t going to allow it. But more importantly I thought — I want to give credit to our guys of not letting this guy out of the pocket. That’s things that we’ve struggled with in years past,” Sheppard said. “Jordan Love has burned us in years past with his legs. He had one run, I think, for four yards. So, I want to look at the positives in that.

“Yeah, we could’ve done things and things like that, but we had a specific gameplan and for the most part, the guys went out and executed the gameplan.”

Ultimately, Sheppard expects the pass rush to be better this weekend, especially from Hutchinson — but it’s worth noting the Lions’ opponent at quarterback, Caleb Williams, has a similar tendency to escape from the pocket and extend plays with his legs.

“When you’re the elite of the elite, people are going to plan for you and that’s why he’s the caliber player that he is. We will counter that and Hutch will counter that. He’s an ultra-aware player, he knows how to manipulate things and move himself around,” Sheppard said.

“We’re working off a one-game sample size, people.”

And, in fairness, the run defense was excellent — no caveats needed. The Lions gave up 78 yards on 25 carries, an average of 3.1 per carry.

“We should’ve been at 2.2 (per carry),” Sheppard said. “Why do I say that? Because one of those was a 15-yard explosive run that should’ve never happened. That’s been addressed as well.”

One of the coldest days of January gets even harsher. The Detroit Lions, the NFL’s version of Charlie Brown trying to kick a football, were the NFC’s one seed. The city of Detroit was buoyant with high hopes. Fans had no stress about the game’s outcome. The Divisional Round versus the Washington Commanders would be […]

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