What a shitty way to open up Ford Field for the 2023 season. Everyone showed up in their blue ski masks and high hopes just to watch a mess end in awful fashion after one overtime drive. There were some highs, and a lot of lows. But overall I think if you told any one of us that this season we would start out 1-1, I think 90% of the fan base would have gladly accepted that, especially considering both the Vikings and Bears are winless, with the Packers tied with us at 1-1. It’s definitely a kill joy losing a week after knocking off the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. But an NFL season is roller coaster ride, and as Detroit Lions fans, we have thick skin, and we are most certainly built for this.

There were plenty of things to be frustrated with Sunday’s performance. The obvious one was the pass rush. Seattle was missing both of their starting offensive tackles. With a defense full of day 1 and 2 draft picks, 30 points (one TD came on defense when QB Jared Goff threw a pick 6) the expectations are understandably higher. Aidan Hutchinson and the rest of the front 7 failed to record a sack (with the exception of Alex Anzalone on a ridiculously stupid scramble backwards by Seahawks QB Geno Smith). The secondary provided zero help in the backfield allowing 328 yards via the air and giving up 2 Touchdowns. All in all just a terrible showing from this side of the ball. It’s not all on one guy, this performance was a collective effort, outside of Derrick Barnes, this whole unit stunk. If this team is going to go anywhere this season everyone on defense needs to step up, especially with the potential season long loss of CJ Gardner Johnson, someone in the secondary needs to step up and take control patrolling the field. One thing that I still cannot get over, was Aaron Glenn and his attempts to make edge rusher James Houston drop back into coverage and cover a tight end one on one down the field. I understand this coaching staff wanted more than just pass rushing snaps out of Houston and I also understand trying to deceive the opposing team making a guy like that drop back instead of rushing, but Houston‘s skill set does not include covering tight ends running “go routes” 30 yards down field. That was by far one of the worst play calls I’ve ever seen in my 15 years of playing and watching the game. That made absolutely no sense, and Glenn put James Houston in a position to fail there. That was inexcusable, and I pray we don’t see anything like that again this season. Versatility is a great asset but you really need to be honest with yourself and your players in what they can and cannot do.

Not all looked bad this Sunday, there were some positives to build on, starting with the passing attack. Wide Receiver Josh Reynolds looked fantastic. He did everything possible to get open and contribute to the score, catching 2 TDs on 5 receptions for 36 yards. Fellow WR Kalif Raymond also scored a touchdown along with 2 receptions for 47 yards. Leading the offense was QB Jared Goff with 323 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT. Head coach Dan Campbell told us after the game that Goff’s turnover was really Jahmyr Gibbs’s fault for running an “indecisive route” resulting in JG16 throwing the ball behind the running back, square into the hands of the defender. All in all, the pass game was much improved from what we saw last Thursday night, the run game wasn’t bad either, rushing for 102 yards on 27 attempts (3.8 yards per carry). Not great, but considering they lost their #1 RB in the second half, those numbers aren’t bad. The big question this week is what to do at that running back position with David Montgomery sidelined this week. Will Jahmyr Gibbs get the bulk of the load? Will it be a 50/50 split between Gibbs and Craig Reynolds? You would have to assume that Zonovan “Bam” Knight will be elevated from the practice squad to the active roster to fill in that RB3 role. If there were a time to show the league why you passed up on Texas Longhorns standout Bijan Robinson and trade back to draft Jahmyr Gibbs, Sunday 1PM at Ford Field is the time to do just that. Not only will Bijan be on the other side of the field in an Atlanta Falcons uniform, but with Montgomery out, Gibbs is the next guy up on that roster. Now I don’t expect Jahmyr to have more carries or rushing yards than Robinson, but what I do want to see is more snaps than we have seen in the past 2 weeks, and whether he rushes or gets all his yards in the air makes little difference to me. I just want to see the Lions show the rest of the football world why Gibbs is the better player. Line him up all over the field and give the Falcons defense headaches all day. His skill set is vast, and he can burn you in a multitude of ways, but none of that matters if Gibbs is on the bench. Dan Campbell/Ben Johnson desperately need to UNLEASH #26 and let him do damage.

Losing sucks, but winning cures all. We will learn a little more about this team and coaching staff this Sunday. There is plenty of adversity to overcome, and how they respond to that is how we will judge them going forward. Nobody feels sorry for you and your injured players, this is the NFL, it’s a brutal game and you have roster depth for a reason. This group needs to pick themselves up off the canvas, and get ready to continue the fight. Doesn’t matter how you do it, just find a way to win on Sunday.