Lions News: Cracks Begin to Show in Dan Campbell’s Team as Jared Goff Receives Strong Warning

The Lions‘ faithful weren’t exactly sweating the Packers coming into Week 1. And you can see why: after knocking Green Bay out of the playoffs in Aaron Rodgers‘ final game in 2022, Detroit had taken four of their last five matchups with the Packers, including a clean sweep in 2024. Plus, under Dan Campbell, the Lions have basically owned the NFC North. But Sunday afternoon? That story got a little shaken up.

The Packers, with Jordan Love under the center, got off to a fresh start, getting a 10-point lead in the first quarter. That was it. They never really looked back. Meanwhile, the Lions managed just a single touchdown, thanks to a spectacular catch by rookie Isaac TeSlaa in the final minute. The final score read like this: Packers 27, Lions 13. Which naturally raised a question: What happened to Campbell’s offense? We’ll study it piece by piece.

Let’s start with the Lions’ QB, Jared Goff. He had a rough day. Even when you ignore garbage time, it wasn’t pretty. Sure, through the first three quarters, he was completing 84% of his passes (21-of-25), but that only netted 152 yards and 8 first downs. To put that in perspective, last season, he was turning 43.8% of his throws into first downs. But against the Packers, that dropped to just 32%.

Part of Goff’s game is thriving off play-action, and yeah, he was solid there, going 9-of-10 for 86 yards. But without the play fakes, he really struggled, finishing just 22-of-29 for 139 yards. Bottom line: when defenses didn’t bite on the run, the passing game stalled. But that was just a small part of the complete story.

The Lions’ running game wasn’t efficient either. David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs combined for just 44 yards on 20 carries (that’s 22 fewer yards than Josh Jacobs, who rushed for 66 yards for the Packers on 19 carries). On top of that, they had almost as many tackles for no gain or loss (6) as successful runs (7). Long story short: Without a threat in the running game, the Lions couldn’t use play-action effectively, which limited Goff.

By the time the final whistle blew, it was clear that, beyond their offensive struggles, missing key players on the line really hurt the Lions in Week 1, especially in the offensive line. And it seems like those struggles aren’t going away very soon.

The offensive woes will come back for Jared Goff in Week 2

There is no doubt that the Lions have a great offensive line coach in Hank Fraley, but if you look at the missing pieces on the Lions’ O-line, their struggles actually start to make sense. Heading into 2025, the Lions lost the veteran center, Frank Ragnow, who hung up his cleats. On top of that, they also bid farewell to guard Kevin Zeitler in free agency. And yes, the narrative shifted from here.

Dan Campbell and Co. had to find replacements for two of the best men on their O-line. For that, they moved Graham Glasgow to center and Christian Mahogany and rookie Tate Ratledge started at guard (both had very little experience — combined only 2 career starts). The writing is on the wall: The offensive line changes hurt Detroit. The Packers’ defenders did the rest of the job.

Colby Wooden and Nazir Stackhouse beat Mahogany for tackles for loss. Glasgow struggled on double-teams, letting defenders get to the running back, resulting in a poor running game. And how can we forget Micah Parsons? Micah arrived in Green Bay, and even though he played only 29 of 65 snaps in his first game with the Packers, his presence hurt the Lions’ offense.

The veteran pass rusher recorded one sack and three pressures and helped create a Jared Goff interception in the red zone. On top of that, he also beat Penei Sewell multiple times. The result? Detroit’s O-line couldn’t give Goff the protection he needed, making passing harder and less effective. Take all together: the Lions’ week O-line and struggling run game left Jared Goff and Co. vulnerable.

Even though the quarterback put up a strong outing at times, the Packers’ pressure and smart defensive play exposed Detroit’s weakness. Heading deep into the season, the NFC North is now a real fight, and other teams will likely try to exploit the Lions’ interior line and lack of running threats. That seems like a strong warning to the quarterback ahead of the Week 2 showdown.