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

The Detroit Lions dropped their season opener to the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 38-35 in a very entertaining contest.

The Detroit Lions took the field in their home opener against the Philadelphia Eagles and went toe-to-toe for most of the game. Ultimately they just didn’t have enough juice to match a very talented Eagles roster.

It was a very entertaining game that had a lot of layers to it by the end. While Detroit had a fair amount of positive moments, there were also plenty of learning experiences this young team can use going forward.

So let’s go unit-by-unit into the report card for the Lions’ 2022 season opener.

Detroit Lions Week 1 report card

Detroit Lions Week 1 report card: Grading the offense

Rush offense: 4/5 stars

Detroit’s ground game started with a pop, as D’Andre Swift took his first carry of the year 51 yards deep into Eagles territory. After that Swift was running well behind the offensive line, with Jamaal Williams scoring twice from a yard out.

The offensive line was able to create holes most of the game and help Detroit post 181 yards on the ground. A very strong start to the year for the ground game.

Pass offense: 3/5 stars

Unlike the ground game, the passing attack took a little bit to get going. Jared Goff and the receivers were out of sync most of the first half. The lowlight of the opening half was a miscommunication between Goff and T.J. Hockenson resulting in a pick-six for the Eagles.

In the second half, things started to click into place. Amon-Ra St. Brown started heating up, as he finished with eight catches for 64 yards and a touchdown. DJ Chark started finding his groove over the middle, and ended his day with a beautiful 22-yard touchdown catch courtesy of a perfect throw from Goff.

Hockenson and Josh Reynolds were involved, but not as much. Reynolds got some downfield targets while Hockenson operated in the intermediate area almost exclusively. Not that either guy had a bad game, there are just a lot of weapons to get the ball to.

Best offensive player: RB D’Andre Swift

Early last season, the Lions’ offense was almost entirely Swift a lot of the time. On Sunday, while the rest of the offense picked up in the second half, Swift was undoubtedly the driving force today. He 15 carries for 144 yards and a touchdown, while adding three catches for 31 yards.

Swift was running more decisively than he showed in the past. He was fighting hard through contact and was breaking a ton of tackles, resulting in plays like this:

It was a very impressive showing for the third-year back. If you were hoping for a breakout campaign this year from Swift, you left this game feeling very encouraged.

Worst offensive player: OG Logan Stenberg

Forced into action due to injuries on the offensive line, Stenberg had a rough game at right guard–particularly in pass protection. The Eagles interior defensive line had their way with Stenberg, exploiting matchups to force Goff off his timing multiple times.

Not that anyone expected the world out of a third-string right guard with four previous offensive line snaps in his career, but Stenberg certainly had a rough opener.

Detroit Lions Week 1 report card: Grading the defense

Run defense: 1/5 stars

In Week 8 last year, the Eagles ran for 236 yards while averaging 5.1 yards per carry against the Lions. On Sunday, they posted 216 rushing yards while averaging 5.5 yards per carry.

Jalen Hurts especially was killing the Lions. The front would get pressure, and Hurts would just scramble and pick up chunks of yards (90 yards and a touchdown in total, on 17 carries).  Even as the Lions slowed Hurts down, Miles Sanders started picking up steam (13 carries for 96 yards and a touchdown). Boston Scott and Kenneth Gainwell also scored on the ground for Philadelphia.

Even facing one of the top rushing offenses in the league, behind a strong offensive line and with one of the best running quarterbacks around, the Lions were simply awful containing the ground game on Sunday. A zero grade was almost worthy.

Pass defense: 3/5 stars

The Lions’ pass defense was up and down during Sunday’s game. Hurts started 0-for-5 through the air, as the secondary helped force a turnover on downs. Then the Eagles figured out no one on this Lions roster could cover A.J. Brown, and they were ultimately right.

Brown was an absolute force all game long, accounting for 155 of the Eagles’ 243 passing yards. However, while the Lions couldn’t cover Brown, they did a fine job with the rest of the Eagles receivers. There were some good things to build on for the secondary.

Best defensive player: CB Jeff Okudah

In his first game action in a year, Okudah more than held his own. He wasn’t flawless, giving up a few catches to the aforementioned Brown, though he also was called for a very questionable pass interference.

But Okudah also had a few really nice pass breakups, and was assertive stepping up to help stop the run. He showed the ability to stick to receivers in coverage he hasn’t shown since really his Ohio State days.

It was a very encouraging start to the year for a player who desperately needed to start off the season on the right foot.

Worst defensive player: S Tracy Walker 

It was a really strange game for Walker. It started with a few adventures in coverage and run fits early on as the Eagles’ ground game got going. Then as Walker started to get back to his usual self, the game started to settle down. He ended up with the Lions’ lone sack of the game.

Then Walker made a very ugly hit on Hurts after the Eagles signal caller slid, picking up a personal foul. After the play he got into it with the Eagles players, who stood up for their quarterback, picked up another personal foul and got ejected.

Not exactly the start to the season Walker was looking for. While it’s good to see him play with an edge, he needs to walk back the aggressiveness a tad moving forward. He’s too valuable a piece  to take himself out of games due to poor judgement.

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.