Tweet
Detroit Lions midseason grades: Jared Goff, Dan Campbell have team looking like NFL's best
Paywall Freep article today.
Dave Birkett
Detroit Free Press
This is the best Detroit Lions team of my lifetime, and I’ll bet most everyone reading this can say the same.
The Lions are 8-1 at just past the midpoint of their season. They’ve dominated games with their offense, defense and special teams, and squeaked out wins against good teams when they weren’t at their best. They won in a downpour at Lambeau Field, and in conditions humid enough last week in Houston that Dan Skipper needed 2½ liters of IV fluid to stay on the field. They have 10 players who will be in the mix for first- or second-team All-Pro honors come January.
And they don’t think they’re close to hitting their peak.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said his team needs to be more efficient on offense in the second half of the season to reach its potential, and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn lamented his unit’s inconsistency against the run.
“I’ve never been a part of a team that didn’t have anything to fix,” Campbell said. “I mean all those years in New Orleans, we had some pretty good teams, we always had things to fix. It was, inevitably we’d come out of games and really very similar to now and you’re like, ‘Man, this is going to bite us. This is going to bite us. This is going to bite us down the road. This is going to catch up with us.’ And you just continue to win, and you clean up one thing and something else may pop up, but pretty soon you begin to eliminate most of those and you’re playing your best ball by the time you hit January.”
The Lions are trending to play deep into January, and maybe February, too, but it’s mid-November now and that means it’s time to take a snapshot of where things stand with my annual midseason grades.
As you’d suspect for a team with the second-best record in football, the marks are extremely high but not perfect. Here’s a position-by-position look at how the Lions have fared through two months.
Quarterback
Jared Goff is on pace to fall short of 4,000 yards passing for the first time since he missed three games in 2021, but his play and the role he’s played in the Lions scorching-hot start can’t be defined by statistics.
Goff has played remarkably efficient football, completing 71.8% of his passes for the season and excelling within the confines of the offense. He went five straight games without a turnover and completed more than 80% of his passes in four of those contests – and was a perfect 18-for-18 in one. He’s improved as a deep-ball thrower and has made mostly smart decisions against the blitz.
Goff did get off to a slow start with turnovers in each of the Lions’ first three games, and he had another blip last week when he threw five interceptions amid some breakdowns in protection. He can’t afford to have those slipups in the playoffs, but he’s playing the best ball of his career and is a legitimate candidate for NFL MVP. Grade: A
Running backs
Lions running backs coach Scottie Montgomery explained this week the strides Jahmyr Gibbs has made in his second NFL season.
“Now we’re starting to see him take dirty runs,” Montgomery said. “Now we’re starting to see him make the correct, hard reads that are ugly, that are 4-yard gains that nobody really likes but everybody respects.”
Gibbs (122 carries, 727 yards) still is a big-play threat every time he touches the ball, but he’s more on top of his details. He leads the Lions in rushing yards, is second in the NFL to Derrick Henry in yards per carry (6.0) and has six runs of 20-plus yards. He’s benefitted from splitting time with David Montgomery, who adds a tone-setting physicality to the backfield and has had some ferocious gains in the pass game. The two haven’t been perfect. Gibbs can improve his pass protection and Montgomery lost a careless fumble against the Vikings. But with 1,247 combined yards and 15 rushing touchdowns, they’re the best running back tandem in the NFL. Grade: A
Receivers/tight ends
The Lions’ passing numbers have been muted in recent weeks by game scripts that have been blown out of whack by big special teams plays (Tennessee) and weather (Green Bay). They don’t have a receiver on pace for 1,000 yards – Amon-Ra St. Brown is tracking to finish with about 2/3s of the yards he had last year – and St. Brown is the only player on pace for 50 catches.
Even with his numbers below his career norms, St. Brown remains an indispensable cog on offense. He had big days against the Vikings and Buccaneers, has scored touchdowns in seven straight games and remains Goff’s go-to target in got-to-have-it situations. Jameson Williams has supplanted tight end Sam LaPorta as the No. 2 receiving option on offense. Williams has three touchdowns of 30-plus yards this season, but missed two games with suspension and still has some lapses with his route running.
The Lions have dropped just five passes this season, second-fewest (to the Eagles) in the NFL, according to Pro Football Reference, but LaPorta’s production has dipped (25 catches, 366 yards) as he’s battled injuries. The Lions get consistently good perimeter blocking from their receivers and tight ends in the run game, and Tim Patrick (12 catches, 177 yards) and Kalif Raymond (14-174) have held up as No. 3 receivers, but Campbell pinned some of the blame for Goff’s interceptions last week on his receivers (LaPorta didn’t get his head around quick enough on one, and Williams ran a poor route on another). Grade: B-plus
Offensive line
The Lions have as good a run-blocking offensive line as there is in the NFL. They’re tied for fifth in the league at 2.8 yards gained before contact per rush, according to PFR, and they have two players playing at an All-Pro level in right tackle Penei Sewell and center Frank Ragnow.
Sewell’s athleticism allows him to do things no other blocker can. He’s so powerful he can obliterate an edge in the run game and so nimble he can take out multiple rushers on sift blockers, as he’s done on more than one occasion this year. Sewell got beat for a sack when he tripped on teammate Kevin Zeitler’s foot and gave up a pressure that led to an interception last week, but his blocking has led to countless big plays.
Ragnow had an uncharacteristically rough game against Tampa in Week 2, allowing three quarterback hits, but has played what he admits is probably the best football of his career since returning from a pectoral injury in mid-October. He’s been dominant the past two weeks and is exceptional at identifying pressures.
Taylor Decker has had some ups and downs in pass protection. He gave up two sacks to Arden Key in the Titans game, when Zeitler and Graham Glasgow also had down days, and single sacks in consecutive games against the Rams, Seahawks and Cardinals. Zeitler has played good ball of late against the Texans and Packers, and Glasgow adds value in his versatility, faring well in his fill-in start at center. As a whole, the Lions need to do a better job protecting Goff. They’re allowing sacks on 7.63% of their dropbacks, 19th in the league. Grade: B-plus
Defensive line
Aidan Hutchinson was off to a dominant start with an NFL-best 7.5 sacks in five games when he broke his leg against the Dallas Cowboys. In Hutchinson’s absence, the Lions have failed to generate consistent four-man pressure from their defensive front, especially at the edge spots, though the group did a better job of that against a porous Houston Texans offensive line last week.
Alim McNeill (3.5 sacks, a career-high-tying six TFLs) has been the Lions’ best defensive lineman this year and paired with D.J. Reader, is a big reason the Lions rank sixth in the NFL against the run at 100.8 ypg allowed. He had a quiet first few weeks but has been a menace since his two-sack performance against the Cowboys.
Josh Paschal (two sacks) is healthy and having the best season of his career. He missed two weeks for medical reasons and the Lions did not do a good job setting edges in the run game in his absence. Injuries have made it hard to judge the performance up front as Kyle Peko and Marcus Davenport played well in spurts before being lost for the season and some of their replacements – Pat O’Conner, Al-Quadin Muhammad – haven’t had a high volume of work. Levi Onwuzurike flashed some pass-rush potential early in the season and has played more end of late out of necessity. Grade: B-plus
Linebackers
Jack Campbell has been the beneficiary of good interior line play on defense. He has back-to-back double-digit tackle games against the Packers and Titans and leads the Lions with 69 total stops. Collectively, the Lions’ linebackers have done a good job pursuing the ball and attacking the run, but they haven’t generated many turnover-creating impact plays.
Derrick Barnes was playing well in a do-everything role at strongside linebacker before he tore his MCL and PCL in Week 3, and the Lions have parceled out those responsibilities in his absence. Alex Anzalone played some SAM linebacker when Malcolm Rodriguez was on the field and Trevor Nowaske (two sacks) has added a pass-rush element to the position.
Anzalone has six missed tackles (10.5%) according to PFR, tied for second-most on the team behind Brian Branch. I thought he played his best game in Week 1, when he was locked into the Rams’ game plan, but the unit as a whole had an off night the next week when Rodriguez missed an open-field tackle on Baker Mayfield then couldn’t get off a block on what proved to be the game-winning 11-yard touchdown. Grade: B-plus
Defensive backs
Branch may lead the Lions in missed tackles, but he’s a star. He has four interceptions, 13 passes defensed, countless bone-rattling hits and has played well in coverage, limiting opponents to a 51.3% completion percentage, according to PFR. Kerby Joseph (six interceptions) teams with Branch to give the Lions the best safety tandem in the NFL. Joseph is a ballhawk in the back end. He’s probably the best post defender in the league and several of his picks have ended drives in the end zone.
Carlton Davis III told the Free Press this week he’s not aware of any new contract talks that would keep him in Detroit after this season, but he’s played well enough to earn an extension. He had his first two interceptions as a Lion last week against the Texans and his physicality is disruptive at the line of scrimmage. He had his worst statistical game against DK Metcalf and the Seahawks when he was called for four penalties, but I thought he covered well that day.
Terrion Arnold has had the uneven season you’d expect from a rookie. The Lions’ first-round pick has been flagged 10 times – six of those for pass interference – doesn’t have a pick this year and is allowing a passer rating of nearly 100. Some of his problems are due to being too handsy and not get his head around in coverage. Amik Robertson forced two fumbles in the Lions’ blowout of the Titans, but has a 15.2% missed tackle percentage and a 99 passer rating against, according to PFR.
Overall, the unit has done a good job creating turnovers is a big reason why the Lions have the best third-down defense in the NFL. Grade: B-plus
Special teams
The Lions lead the NFL in special teams DVOA and have controlled field position in nearly every game because of a kicking game that has few weaknesses. Jack Fox is second in the NFL with a 45.3-yard net punting average, Jake Bates hasn’t missed a field goal this year and drilled his second game-winner last week against the Texans, and the Lions lead the NFL in kick-return average and rank fourth on punt returns.
Fox is having a Pro Bowl year, and Kalif Raymond nearly set the NFL single-game record for return yardage against the Titans. The Lions do rank near the bottom of the league in kick coverage, but that number is skewed by a small sample size (12 returns) and one bad game against the Cowboys.
The Lions also converted one fake punt early in the year, and failed on a second when Jalen Reeves-Maybin should have pitched the ball on a direct-snap option. Reeves-Maybin won’t repeat as a Pro Bowl special-teamer this year, but Sione Vaki leads the team with five special teams tackles and Khalil Dorsey and Kindle Vildor are playing well at gunner. Grade: A
Coaching
The Lions have a deep and talented roster, but that shouldn’t take away from the job Dan Campbell and his assistants are doing running the show. They’ve kept this team dialed in no matter the opponent, and they’ve made creative use of personnel and play designs on both sides of the ball.
As defensive coordinator, Aaron Glenn doesn’t get enough credit for his ingenuity. He’s kept opponents guessing with his rush plans, patched together personnel in the front seven after losing his top three edge defenders and fostered confidence in his playmaking unit. No one calls a better game offensively than Ben Johnson. He has a deep bag of tricks he’ll use in any situation and you can see the attention to detail he requires in practice come out in games.
Campbell hasn’t had to make as many all-eyes-on-me-type decisions this year because his roster is so good, but the Lions scored two touchdowns on fourth-and-short plays against the Packers and he’s kept his locker room motivated and cohesive despite its success. Little things go a long way in the NFL, and Campbell’s decision to give Za’Darius Smith a week after his trade from the Cleveland Browns should pay dividends down the road, too. Grade: A
Dave Birkett will sign copies of his new book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline" at 7 p.m. Monday at the Applebee's by Oakland University in Auburn Hills. Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
Paywall Freep article today.
Dave Birkett
Detroit Free Press
This is the best Detroit Lions team of my lifetime, and I’ll bet most everyone reading this can say the same.
The Lions are 8-1 at just past the midpoint of their season. They’ve dominated games with their offense, defense and special teams, and squeaked out wins against good teams when they weren’t at their best. They won in a downpour at Lambeau Field, and in conditions humid enough last week in Houston that Dan Skipper needed 2½ liters of IV fluid to stay on the field. They have 10 players who will be in the mix for first- or second-team All-Pro honors come January.
And they don’t think they’re close to hitting their peak.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said his team needs to be more efficient on offense in the second half of the season to reach its potential, and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn lamented his unit’s inconsistency against the run.
“I’ve never been a part of a team that didn’t have anything to fix,” Campbell said. “I mean all those years in New Orleans, we had some pretty good teams, we always had things to fix. It was, inevitably we’d come out of games and really very similar to now and you’re like, ‘Man, this is going to bite us. This is going to bite us. This is going to bite us down the road. This is going to catch up with us.’ And you just continue to win, and you clean up one thing and something else may pop up, but pretty soon you begin to eliminate most of those and you’re playing your best ball by the time you hit January.”
The Lions are trending to play deep into January, and maybe February, too, but it’s mid-November now and that means it’s time to take a snapshot of where things stand with my annual midseason grades.
As you’d suspect for a team with the second-best record in football, the marks are extremely high but not perfect. Here’s a position-by-position look at how the Lions have fared through two months.
Quarterback
Jared Goff is on pace to fall short of 4,000 yards passing for the first time since he missed three games in 2021, but his play and the role he’s played in the Lions scorching-hot start can’t be defined by statistics.
Goff has played remarkably efficient football, completing 71.8% of his passes for the season and excelling within the confines of the offense. He went five straight games without a turnover and completed more than 80% of his passes in four of those contests – and was a perfect 18-for-18 in one. He’s improved as a deep-ball thrower and has made mostly smart decisions against the blitz.
Goff did get off to a slow start with turnovers in each of the Lions’ first three games, and he had another blip last week when he threw five interceptions amid some breakdowns in protection. He can’t afford to have those slipups in the playoffs, but he’s playing the best ball of his career and is a legitimate candidate for NFL MVP. Grade: A
Running backs
Lions running backs coach Scottie Montgomery explained this week the strides Jahmyr Gibbs has made in his second NFL season.
“Now we’re starting to see him take dirty runs,” Montgomery said. “Now we’re starting to see him make the correct, hard reads that are ugly, that are 4-yard gains that nobody really likes but everybody respects.”
Gibbs (122 carries, 727 yards) still is a big-play threat every time he touches the ball, but he’s more on top of his details. He leads the Lions in rushing yards, is second in the NFL to Derrick Henry in yards per carry (6.0) and has six runs of 20-plus yards. He’s benefitted from splitting time with David Montgomery, who adds a tone-setting physicality to the backfield and has had some ferocious gains in the pass game. The two haven’t been perfect. Gibbs can improve his pass protection and Montgomery lost a careless fumble against the Vikings. But with 1,247 combined yards and 15 rushing touchdowns, they’re the best running back tandem in the NFL. Grade: A
Receivers/tight ends
The Lions’ passing numbers have been muted in recent weeks by game scripts that have been blown out of whack by big special teams plays (Tennessee) and weather (Green Bay). They don’t have a receiver on pace for 1,000 yards – Amon-Ra St. Brown is tracking to finish with about 2/3s of the yards he had last year – and St. Brown is the only player on pace for 50 catches.
Even with his numbers below his career norms, St. Brown remains an indispensable cog on offense. He had big days against the Vikings and Buccaneers, has scored touchdowns in seven straight games and remains Goff’s go-to target in got-to-have-it situations. Jameson Williams has supplanted tight end Sam LaPorta as the No. 2 receiving option on offense. Williams has three touchdowns of 30-plus yards this season, but missed two games with suspension and still has some lapses with his route running.
The Lions have dropped just five passes this season, second-fewest (to the Eagles) in the NFL, according to Pro Football Reference, but LaPorta’s production has dipped (25 catches, 366 yards) as he’s battled injuries. The Lions get consistently good perimeter blocking from their receivers and tight ends in the run game, and Tim Patrick (12 catches, 177 yards) and Kalif Raymond (14-174) have held up as No. 3 receivers, but Campbell pinned some of the blame for Goff’s interceptions last week on his receivers (LaPorta didn’t get his head around quick enough on one, and Williams ran a poor route on another). Grade: B-plus
Offensive line
The Lions have as good a run-blocking offensive line as there is in the NFL. They’re tied for fifth in the league at 2.8 yards gained before contact per rush, according to PFR, and they have two players playing at an All-Pro level in right tackle Penei Sewell and center Frank Ragnow.
Sewell’s athleticism allows him to do things no other blocker can. He’s so powerful he can obliterate an edge in the run game and so nimble he can take out multiple rushers on sift blockers, as he’s done on more than one occasion this year. Sewell got beat for a sack when he tripped on teammate Kevin Zeitler’s foot and gave up a pressure that led to an interception last week, but his blocking has led to countless big plays.
Ragnow had an uncharacteristically rough game against Tampa in Week 2, allowing three quarterback hits, but has played what he admits is probably the best football of his career since returning from a pectoral injury in mid-October. He’s been dominant the past two weeks and is exceptional at identifying pressures.
Taylor Decker has had some ups and downs in pass protection. He gave up two sacks to Arden Key in the Titans game, when Zeitler and Graham Glasgow also had down days, and single sacks in consecutive games against the Rams, Seahawks and Cardinals. Zeitler has played good ball of late against the Texans and Packers, and Glasgow adds value in his versatility, faring well in his fill-in start at center. As a whole, the Lions need to do a better job protecting Goff. They’re allowing sacks on 7.63% of their dropbacks, 19th in the league. Grade: B-plus
Defensive line
Aidan Hutchinson was off to a dominant start with an NFL-best 7.5 sacks in five games when he broke his leg against the Dallas Cowboys. In Hutchinson’s absence, the Lions have failed to generate consistent four-man pressure from their defensive front, especially at the edge spots, though the group did a better job of that against a porous Houston Texans offensive line last week.
Alim McNeill (3.5 sacks, a career-high-tying six TFLs) has been the Lions’ best defensive lineman this year and paired with D.J. Reader, is a big reason the Lions rank sixth in the NFL against the run at 100.8 ypg allowed. He had a quiet first few weeks but has been a menace since his two-sack performance against the Cowboys.
Josh Paschal (two sacks) is healthy and having the best season of his career. He missed two weeks for medical reasons and the Lions did not do a good job setting edges in the run game in his absence. Injuries have made it hard to judge the performance up front as Kyle Peko and Marcus Davenport played well in spurts before being lost for the season and some of their replacements – Pat O’Conner, Al-Quadin Muhammad – haven’t had a high volume of work. Levi Onwuzurike flashed some pass-rush potential early in the season and has played more end of late out of necessity. Grade: B-plus
Linebackers
Jack Campbell has been the beneficiary of good interior line play on defense. He has back-to-back double-digit tackle games against the Packers and Titans and leads the Lions with 69 total stops. Collectively, the Lions’ linebackers have done a good job pursuing the ball and attacking the run, but they haven’t generated many turnover-creating impact plays.
Derrick Barnes was playing well in a do-everything role at strongside linebacker before he tore his MCL and PCL in Week 3, and the Lions have parceled out those responsibilities in his absence. Alex Anzalone played some SAM linebacker when Malcolm Rodriguez was on the field and Trevor Nowaske (two sacks) has added a pass-rush element to the position.
Anzalone has six missed tackles (10.5%) according to PFR, tied for second-most on the team behind Brian Branch. I thought he played his best game in Week 1, when he was locked into the Rams’ game plan, but the unit as a whole had an off night the next week when Rodriguez missed an open-field tackle on Baker Mayfield then couldn’t get off a block on what proved to be the game-winning 11-yard touchdown. Grade: B-plus
Defensive backs
Branch may lead the Lions in missed tackles, but he’s a star. He has four interceptions, 13 passes defensed, countless bone-rattling hits and has played well in coverage, limiting opponents to a 51.3% completion percentage, according to PFR. Kerby Joseph (six interceptions) teams with Branch to give the Lions the best safety tandem in the NFL. Joseph is a ballhawk in the back end. He’s probably the best post defender in the league and several of his picks have ended drives in the end zone.
Carlton Davis III told the Free Press this week he’s not aware of any new contract talks that would keep him in Detroit after this season, but he’s played well enough to earn an extension. He had his first two interceptions as a Lion last week against the Texans and his physicality is disruptive at the line of scrimmage. He had his worst statistical game against DK Metcalf and the Seahawks when he was called for four penalties, but I thought he covered well that day.
Terrion Arnold has had the uneven season you’d expect from a rookie. The Lions’ first-round pick has been flagged 10 times – six of those for pass interference – doesn’t have a pick this year and is allowing a passer rating of nearly 100. Some of his problems are due to being too handsy and not get his head around in coverage. Amik Robertson forced two fumbles in the Lions’ blowout of the Titans, but has a 15.2% missed tackle percentage and a 99 passer rating against, according to PFR.
Overall, the unit has done a good job creating turnovers is a big reason why the Lions have the best third-down defense in the NFL. Grade: B-plus
Special teams
The Lions lead the NFL in special teams DVOA and have controlled field position in nearly every game because of a kicking game that has few weaknesses. Jack Fox is second in the NFL with a 45.3-yard net punting average, Jake Bates hasn’t missed a field goal this year and drilled his second game-winner last week against the Texans, and the Lions lead the NFL in kick-return average and rank fourth on punt returns.
Fox is having a Pro Bowl year, and Kalif Raymond nearly set the NFL single-game record for return yardage against the Titans. The Lions do rank near the bottom of the league in kick coverage, but that number is skewed by a small sample size (12 returns) and one bad game against the Cowboys.
The Lions also converted one fake punt early in the year, and failed on a second when Jalen Reeves-Maybin should have pitched the ball on a direct-snap option. Reeves-Maybin won’t repeat as a Pro Bowl special-teamer this year, but Sione Vaki leads the team with five special teams tackles and Khalil Dorsey and Kindle Vildor are playing well at gunner. Grade: A
Coaching
The Lions have a deep and talented roster, but that shouldn’t take away from the job Dan Campbell and his assistants are doing running the show. They’ve kept this team dialed in no matter the opponent, and they’ve made creative use of personnel and play designs on both sides of the ball.
As defensive coordinator, Aaron Glenn doesn’t get enough credit for his ingenuity. He’s kept opponents guessing with his rush plans, patched together personnel in the front seven after losing his top three edge defenders and fostered confidence in his playmaking unit. No one calls a better game offensively than Ben Johnson. He has a deep bag of tricks he’ll use in any situation and you can see the attention to detail he requires in practice come out in games.
Campbell hasn’t had to make as many all-eyes-on-me-type decisions this year because his roster is so good, but the Lions scored two touchdowns on fourth-and-short plays against the Packers and he’s kept his locker room motivated and cohesive despite its success. Little things go a long way in the NFL, and Campbell’s decision to give Za’Darius Smith a week after his trade from the Cleveland Browns should pay dividends down the road, too. Grade: A
Dave Birkett will sign copies of his new book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline" at 7 p.m. Monday at the Applebee's by Oakland University in Auburn Hills. Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
Comment