Hope springs eternal in Week 1.
Sunday will be the start of what is arguably a make-or-break season for the Detroit Lions.
The 2025 campaign was disappointing and frustrating. The Lions went from a franchise record win total the year before to fourth place in their division. There were serious struggles on both sides of the ball and the team struggled to adjust to the losses of both of their coordinators from 2024.
This offseason, Detroit made efforts to shore up the offensive line, deepen the defensive line and get younger. There were still some injuries and unexpected hurdles, like Terrion Arnold’s arrest and release, but the Lions feel like they’re a better team than they were a year ago.
They also made an effort to get back to the hunger of their earlier teams. Head coach Dan Campbell stressed competition all offseason in an effort to recapture the famous fire and grit his Lions have become known for.
“Our focus,” Campbell said on what gives him the most encouragement entering the season. “Getting back to what we do, what we're about. And really competing with each other, testing each other. The chess game between the coordinators, the offense, the defense, cutting it loose more on special teams. I just thought we identified those issues and went after them.”
Lions' optimism needs to be infectious for a true bounce back season
The Lions’ offense is still loaded. They retained their entire core of skill players— a ridiculous collection headlined by Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs, Jameson Williams and Sam LaPorta. It’s also worth noting that for all the issues Detroit had with its offensive line last year, it still finished top 5 in yards and points per game.
There are still questions about the line, and the Lions are breaking in yet another offensive coordinator. But the team is confident in its new direction under Drew Petzing.
“We’ve just been having fun, every day clicking on all cylinders, running, pass game. I don't know,” Gibbs said. “We just have a different feeling about this year. It's not really words I can explain. So we’re going to let the play speak for itself.
Petzing didn’t lead prolific offenses with the Arizona Cardinals, but has drawn high marks around the league for his creativity in the running game and ability to marry the run with the pass. The Lions need him to lead an efficient offense after last year’s John Morton experiment failed.
His attention to detail has also caught on with his players.
“The first meeting, he was really direct with what he wanted to do and how he wanted to do it and um you just had a feeling about it,” Gibbs said.
Quarterback Jared Goff praised “the standard and the accountability” aspect Petzing has brought. He also lauded Petzing’s communication with his players, and ability to synthesize their strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes into one gameplan.
“[To] find a way to weave all that into a play, into a gameplan, into how we want to do things and how we want to approach a game, it's not easy. It's really not,” Goff said. “To have the ability, the mental dexterity to do all of that is hard. And he's done a good job.”
The Lions are facing an ascending Saints team who played well down the stretch last year. Quarterback Tyler Shough looked promising, edge rusher Chase Young is one of the most underrated players in football and New Orleans has a solid front seven.
Goff talked about the challenges of Week 1, and how the freshness of the season can bring surprises not previously shown on tape.
“You're watching stuff, you know, that they've done, but you don't know what they've changed,” Goff said. “They'll have wrinkles and things that we can't account for, and we'll have the same stuff. So, there is that little internal chess match going on.”
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It’s been often floated that this year’s Lions team is playing with a proverbial chip on its shoulder. That the bitter end to last season is an extra motivator for this year’s team.
But several players openly dismissed that notion, and insisted they’re set on putting the year behind them. It seems like the focus is on being a new team.
“I've never been a big chip guy, you know?” edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson said. “I'm more just– I don't dwell on the past too much. I see the potential that we have and we've had that for a few years now. So whatever's happened in the past is forgotten and we're just going to focus everything we have on this year.”
The Lions have some trouble with their secondary. Safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph are out for at least a month, and the cornerback room is suspect. But this could be the best front seven they’ve had.
There’s depth to supplement Hutchinson on the defensive line and the Lions could get a bounceback year from Alim McNeill. Jack Campbell is coming off an All-Pro season in the linebacker room.
“We're supposed to be a very dominant team and that's what the work that we put in showcases that,” McNeill said. “I expect us to be that team.”
This is a team eager to make everyone forget about last year. Goff had a measured, but testy response to a reporter who even brought 2025 up.
“The references to last year, I'm going to stop answering them at some point,” Goff said. “It's not who we are anymore. This team's different and we're excited.”
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