I have not enjoyed watching a Lions game as much as I enjoyed this one in a long time; probably since the game against Washington last year. First drive of the game seemed like it would be a repeat of last week’s horrific defense but we got back on the right track after that and ended up with an offensive masterclass to take down Arizona. The Cardinals are not a very good team so this win does not get rid of every concern, but I’m still going to enjoy going into the bye week coming off a win and being above .500. It wasn’t perfect, there are still glaring issues with the team, but it feels so much better than it did last week.
Thoughts on the Offense
If you told me that we would score 45 points, I would not think the slow starts would have continued. The offense has been pretty bad early in games and that was no different yesterday. The first quarter was putrid on offense, we had 9 plays for -9 yards. Goff took three sacks and the offensive line was looking shockingly outmatched by their defense, but things turned around quickly after those drives. Following those three subpar drives, we put together seven scoring drives in a row with six of them being touchdowns. Gibbs was nearly unstoppable, LaPorta was excellent, Goff and Jameson Williams finally connected on a deep ball for a score, St. Brown was getting his yards, the offensive line looked better, everything was clicking. The second quarter was the highest scoring quarter for the Lions since 2013. It was so much fun watching the offense yesterday and had shades of 2024 to it. Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing dialed up some trick plays, the team was aggressive and successful on 4th down; it was almost like watching the 2024 offense. I’m not saying this team is as good as the 2024 team, it isn’t. But it sure looked quite similar offensively yesterday.
Jared Goff was surgical. After struggling for the first couple of drives, he locked in was near perfect. He leads the NFL in passing yards with 1,485. He has thrown 12 touchdowns without an interception. He is third in passer rating and he had a rushing touchdown yesterday. He is playing like an MVP and if the team starts to go on a winning steak, he will be one of the favorites. He has the most passing touchdowns ever by someone without a turnover through five weeks. Russell Wilson also had 12 passing touchdowns to zero picks in 2019 at this point but he had lost a fumble. Goff has been near perfect all year, the final drive against Carolina being an obvious exception. He deserves to be seen as a top eight quarterback in the league in my opinion but he never gets any respect since he isn’t flashy and isn’t mobile. On a week 5 recap, someone on CBS Sports said “Jared Goff for sure isn’t helping them out” and I’m going to assume he doesn’t watch the games at all. People are so stuck on how they viewed him before his Rams exit and refuse to change the perception of him. Yes he isn’t mobile and yes he isn’t flashy, but Jared Goff is a very good quarterback in this league.
The offensive line played pretty well for most of the game. I’ll start with Penei Sewell: he’s figuring out left tackle. Sewell is the best tackle in the league in my opinion but it is taking him time to adjust moving over to the left side. He has had some moments this year where he didn’t look unbeatable but he was near perfect yesterday. He earned a PFF grade over 90 and is currently the highest rated offensive tackle in the sport. He will be a top candidate for the protector of the year award and is the anchor on this line. There are other good candidates like Darnell Wright, Amarius Mims, Creed Humphrey, and Trent Williams to name a few, yet there is a reason Penei Sewell is the current favorite. Christian Mahogany has also been surprisingly really good this year for the most part. Playing next to Sewell helps out a lot but he has been one of the top guards in the league so far. Ratledge and Miller on the right side didn’t have their best days yesterday but they’re both super young and have also been above average this year. Blake Miller struggled a bit with penalties and rookie mistakes, but he was good enough to get the win. Juice Scruggs has been a good center in the time he has had to play; however, Cade Mays is going to be back after the bye and he will get the job. He was signed to be the starter and that is what he is going to be. Scruggs has played well and will be a great depth piece to have just in case, though Mays should make this line even better. It is not perfect all game and there are a couple of times a game where they make stupid mistakes, but I believe this group is going to be one of the best offensive lines in the league this year. They probably won’t be as good as the 2024 o line which they don’t need to be. It is a huge improvement from last year and has helped Goff look like an MVP candidate early on.
The receiving duo looked good this week. Jameson Williams caught two touchdowns and St. Brown had 6 catches for 69 yards. The wide receivers weren’t the focal point yesterday but they didn't need to be. Following what were probably the two best games of his career, Isaac TeSlaa didn’t record a catch. Obviously he didn’t need to since the score ended up how it did and with how many options the offense has, there were other mouths to feed this week. Sam LaPorta was incredible yesterday. He is all you can ask for from a tight end and hopefully will be re-signed after the season. He needs to be. The offense does not function anywhere near as well without him which was clear last year. He caught multiple big fourth downs, led the team in receiving yards, and had a touchdown. He currently leads all tight ends in receiving yards this season. He is going to get a pay day in the offseason and hopefully it is with Detroit.
Then lastly for the offense you all know who I’m going to talk about again and gush over: Jahmyr Gibbs. Over 200 yards and two touchdowns for him yesterday. He is a monster on the ground and as a receiver, his vision is excellent, he bounces off the tackles and turns nothing into something constantly, he leads the league in scrimmage yards, and he has nine touchdowns through five games. He is on pace to break the scrimmage yards record and to finish just shy of the scrimmage touchdown record. It is only five games in but if he keeps up this pace, he will have arguably the best season ever by a running back. I know I said Goff deserves MVP consideration but if he keeps this pace up, so does Jahmyr Gibbs. He leads all running backs in receiving yards and is third in rushing yards right now. I doubt he keeps up this great of a pace but finishing with over 2000 scrimmage yards and 20 total touchdowns seems like the expectation at this point. He is incredible and is always reliable. Plus his pass protecting has looked so much better in recent weeks than it did against New Orleans and Buffalo.
The offense was excellent and leads the NFL in scoring, but they also have a lot of room for improvement. The penalties are down but the offensive line still has a couple of mental errors per game that will be fixed. Cade Mays’ return after the bye should help them improve too. The offense might be a bit too reliant on Gibbs but how could they not be with how good he has been? My main concern is the slow starts. We have one of the worst first quarter offenses in the league and have only scored on one opening drive. That needs to change or else this team might be playing from behind more than they should be. The Cardinals are not a great team so it was good to look great against them, but there will be harder tests almost every week. Improvement is still necessary.
Thoughts on the Defense
The secondary showed improvement. There was more man coverage than previous weeks and coverage was stickier. D.J. Reed had a much better game, Keith Abney II made his debut at safety and looked decent. His tackling was pretty good and he came down with his first career interception. It was not perfect but he looks promising. Ennis Rakestraw Jr. continued to show improvements as his opportunities grow. It would be so beneficial for the team and secondary if he lives up to his second round draft position. Chuck Clark struggled and looked out of position often. He came down way too much and left guys open over the top, allowing for big plays. On both touchdowns to Teagan Quitoriano, the defense was out of position and allowed him to get wide open. Lastly for the secondary, Roger McCreary was targeted a ton and did allow over 100 yards, but he only allowed a 50% completion rate and had 6 passes defended. He was hit and miss but wasn’t awful. Jalen Mills was fine in his limited snaps but what stood out to me most was that Christian Izien did not log a single snap. He was not good at all last week and seemed to be replaced by Abney for this game. And Abney capitalized when given the opportunity so I expect Izien to continue to have very few snaps for the time being. Brian Branch should be back next game after the bye which will be a huge addition to the secondary. Adding the young pro bowler back should help this defense out a ton and hopefully bring the group closer to league average. I did see a reporter say Kerby Joseph will also be back eventually but I believe that to be purely speculation at this point. I love Kerby and hope he can return to the field, but I won’t believe it until I see him suit up on gameday.
The defensive line continues to play well, sacking Brissett 5 times and bring the season total to 20. 20 sacks through 5 games is the most in franchise history and is so nice to see after recent years. D.J. Wonnum had a pair of sacks, bringing his season total to five which leads the team. Aidan Hutchinson recorded half a sack with Malcolm Rodriguez, Alim McNeill and Skyler Gill-Howard combined for a sack as well. Tyleik Williams’ snap count was down this week but I think that is largely due to him dealing with an injury all week. Derrick Moore played over a quarter of the snap as well which is encouraging for the second round rookie. Tyler Lacy and Levi Onwuzurike were unimpressive to me, especially Onwuzurike but the rest of the defensive line showed up again. During the past few years, a major complaint has always been who is going to be the second edge rusher next to Aidan Hutchinson and Wonnum has clearly excelled in that role to start the season. Wonnum, Hutchinson, and McNeill are all currently top 15 in the league in sacks and this defense currently has the most sacks of any team in the league. With how the defensive line is playing, this defense does have the potential to be very disruptive if the secondary can improve and start to force some turnovers.
Linebackers were better this week than they have been. Jack Campbell played like his 2025 self finally although he did allow a touchdown. It was not his fault at all; it was an incredible catch by Trey McBride. Derrick Barnes had a sack and played well, Malcolm Rodriguez was decent, but Devin White did break his forearm and will miss a couple weeks. White has not been good this year but he was playing well yesterday when on the field. Hopefully he has a smooth recovery and can be back contributing in a couple of weeks. If Jack Campbell continues to play well, this group will look so much better than it has been which would be a huge boost defensively. Coverage still could be a bit better but I’ll take the small victories for right now.
Overall I liked what I saw defensively but it was against the Cardinals. After allowing only four three and outs in the first four weeks, the defense was able to force five in a row in the first half. There were still times where guys were not where they were supposed to be which led to a few big plays, but it was nowhere near as bad as it has been. Covering slot receivers and tight ends is still a major problem for the group, but it was not a bad day as a whole for the defense yesterday. Run defense was so much better than it was against Carolina and Jeremiyah Love was held under 2 yards per carry. Arizona only had 56 rushing yards as a team and 18 of them came on a scramble by Brissett. The defense shut down Arizona’s run game and played much better pass defense once the offense gave the team a big enough lead. I was on the fire Kelvin Sheppard train last week and am not off of it yet. I still think he needs to do better but I will happily say I was wrong if he continues to adjust well and the defense continues to improve. We are still only 5 games in and a lot can change in the next three months.
Final Thoughts and What’s Next
This game was against the 1-4 Cardinals so we’re not magically fixed and flawless. The defense and offense both have issues that need to be addressed and improved. Getting healthier should help but I still think trading for a starting corner is needed if this team is going to make a postseason run. Making the playoffs will be tough as an NFC North team yet I still think this team will make it. I need to see them start stringing together wins because it has been over a year since we had a winning streak during the season. Weeks 4 and 5 last year were the last time we won back to back games in the same season. I am feeling more confident about this team; however, I still need to see how we fare against divisional opponents and better offenses.
The next two games after the bye will be important division games. We’ll be hosting the Packers and Vikings and it should give a better idea if this team has a chance to win the division. The Packers have not been great, their offensive line has been one of the worst in the league but they have a deep passing attack that will probably trouble this secondary. Christian Watson and Matthew Golden have had great starts to the year and give Jordan Love targets to go to that can destroy this defense. Plus Tucker Kraft is a good tight end and our defense has been horrible against tight ends this year. Green Bay does not have a good run game so I expect Love to air it out and find success similar to how he did against Chicago. It still should be a Lions victory with the return of Brian Branch and debut of Cade Mays. The Packers defense and secondary are not great and they could still be without Micah Parsons. If our offense continues to execute and play well, I expect them to beat Green Bay. The following week is against Minnesota and a game against that defense and Brian Flores will be a major test. Their defense is the best in the league and I need to see how our offense stacks up against it. No Lions football next week but the next two games coming out of the bye will show if this team is able to compete this year.
I’m hopeful for this team and cautiously optimistic, but either way it was fun to see a relatively stress-free victory this week. Hopefully we can string together some wins and go on a little run as we get deeper into the season. Playoffs are still my expectation. The offense will continue to be good and if the defense builds on this performance and improves, winning 11 games is reasonable.
Stars of the Game:
Jared Goff: 19 for 30, 271 yards, 3 passing touchdowns, 1 rushing touchdown, 125.8 passer rating
Jahmyr Gibbs: 25 carries, 151 yards, 2 touchdowns, 5 receptions, 56 receiving yards. 207 yards from scrimmage overall
Sam LaPorta: 5 catches, 88 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 fourth down conversions
D.J. Wonnum: 2 sacks
Penei Sewell: best tackle in football
Thank you for reading and I’m so happy I can be more positive than I was last week. Hopefully this game is a sign of things to come but now it’s time for the bye week.
All photos are from the Lions X account, all credit goes to Fox Sports, the NFL, and the Detroit Lions