Thursday night was a dream for us as a fan base. But right now its Monday and it’s definitely time to come down from the win. Winning Week 1 is fantastic, but it’s also not totally indicative of the rest of your season’s success. Can’t let the highs get you too high, and you can’t let the lows get you too low. Overall as I said last week I think the Lions looked real good, but far from perfect there is definitely plenty of room to grow.

WR Room Needs Improvement: There’s an elephant in the room, and his name is Marvin Jones. Holy shit were we mistaken. This guy is a shell of his former self and its BEYOND evident. This isn’t a hit piece, I love Marv with all my heart. I’ll never forget the diving catches, the toughness, the grit, every bit of him was on display in Detroit from 2016-2020. But unfortunately we are a long ways away from that guy that used to wear #11 catching passes from Matthew Stafford each and every Sunday. The fumble in the first half of Thursday’s game was concerning enough, he doubled down by dropping two more passes after that. He’s not our WR 1 but he’s on the roster, it’s one thing to not really be a contributor, it’s another thing to be a detriment to the product on the field. Now, in all fairness, that’s Marvin’s first fumble of his career so I will cut the 33 year old WR some slack. Ultimately a season should not be held in the hands of a #3 or #4 WR so it’s not a huge deal but if Marvin Jones doesn’t get into a groove, however a contingency plan must be on the mind of general manager Brad Holmes. Which brings me to my next point….Mike Evans. Now I’m not saying the Detroit Lions could even get him, but he’s not happy with his contract situation in Tampa Bay, and he has ended negations with the franchise for the duration of the 2023 season. If there is a way to possibly bring in Evans without giving up 2nd round pick, I really do think the Lions should pull the trigger on that. I’m not going to beat a dead horse, and if anyone reading this has spent any time on NFL Twitter they know how much every other fan base wants Mike Evans as well. The need is obvious, the fit works as well considering the Lions are a contender and should really be putting all their chips to the center of the table to contend for a title.

Interior Defensive Line: The benching of Isaiah Buggs grabbed national media attention prior to Detroit’s season opener against the Chiefs. And it did so for good reason. Buggs was a free agency signing that went under the radar last season, and it seemed to trend that way until mid 2022 where Isaiah became a household name in the Detroit area. This summer he lost his spot to Benito Jones and Levi Onwzurike. Jones had an alright Week 1 but for the most part that position has remained suspect. If this team wants to compete deeper into the month of January they need to figure out the DT position. Guys like Josh Pascal can fill in from time to time and play well, (huge play by Pascal stopping that end around run late in the 4th quarter Thursday night) but for the most part we need better play there. The linebackers aren’t perfect, but it’s a young group slowly coming together so there is some patience, similar to the backfield of the defense with 4 new additions as well as Kerby Joseph returning you have a ton of hope assuming those guys will figure it out amongst all of that talent. But the DT position is a concern due to the lack of natural depth as well as the lack of natural talent. Aidan Hutchinson isn’t the best Edge defender in the world but he’s talented and only getting better so you have plenty of faith between him and James Houston. But the INT DT position just doesn’t have that same natural ability and that is where the worry steps in. That trade market is also un clear at this moment…will Aaron Donald become available? Maybe Dexter Lawerence? Right now both players play on teams with Superbowl asperations so the assumption really isn’t clear. Either way that’s a glaring position of weakness on the defense and the current solution requires the guys currently here to step up and take control of the field between the “B” gaps. For now, we hold out hope that SOMEONE on this roster takes over and assures the front office that a deal does not need to be made to preserve the potential in the success of this season.