Detroit Lions Week 1 report card: A more competitive loss to the Eagles

Detroit Lions Week 1 report card: Grading the coaching staff, etc.

Coaching staff: 3/5 stars

Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson’s first time calling plays started off a bit slow, which should have been expected. The Lions were caught being too predictable offensively. For instance, they were bringing in extra linemen and stacking the line clearly to run the ball, allowing the Eagles to stack the box in reaction and be right.

In the second half, the offense started moving the ball better as things spread out more.

A storyline that’s more concerning, however, is the timeout usage. To end the first half, Detroit called a pair of very aggressive timeouts which ended up only helping the Eagles as they marched down the field to preserve clock. Then in the second half, Campbell called a timeout early on a first down for the Eagles that was even more questionable.

Play of the game: D’Andre Swift’s 51-yard run

There has been a lot of talk about how big of a year Swift could have. How everything around him is set up for success, it was just up to him to take the next step.

He made a statement on just the second snap of the season.

Final thoughts

There was a lot of good and bad to take out of this game for the Lions. Unlike Week 1 last year against the 49ers, it was competitive the whole way through to yield a close result.

The Eagles are a strong team, and there is no shame in losing to them. The fact Detroit was so close to stealing the game shows you just how improved this Lions team is. There is a lot to work on, but you can be sure that you will see the improvement almost immediately heading into next week. This is a young developing team, the Lions will be a better team in December than they are right now. That’s all that matters this season.