Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell is not on the hot seat by any means, but his offensive coordinator - John Morton - sure seems to be.
Morton, who has been helming a very flat Lions offense so far this season, took the back seat to Campbell as the head coach called plays for Jared Goff and the Lions' offense against the injury-riddled Washington Commanders. The result was palpable. Washington could barely contain Detroit's passing game, and Jahmyr Gibbs ran rampant against their defensive line.
So, with the caveat of the Commanders' injuries being a big reason why the Lions seemed to possibly do so well compared to Week 9 against a much healthier Minnesota Vikings defense, we present: the Lions' first iota of drama this season.
Campbell and Morton offer differing thoughts on Lions O-line
Campbell told reporters after the contest that the line of scrimmage, handled by a bit of a makeshift Lions offensive line, was moving with ease.
Dan Campbell: "You could just feel the line of scrimmage move today. Honestly, I feel like you could've called anything today and they would've made it work."
— Nolan Bianchi (@nolanbianchi) November 10, 2025
This quote, specifically mentioning how you could draw up any play and the line would have made it work for the offense, seems to directly call out Morton's comments on the line's blocking in Week 9.
lmao this is almost the exact inverse of what John Morton was saying on Thursday.
— Jeremy Reisman (@DetroitOnLion) November 10, 2025
"The protection, that was the biggest thing. I mean we draw up all these plays we want, doesn’t matter." https://t.co/M9coSWJrso
This is the sort of miscommunication you don't want to see between Campbell and Morton, especially as we're headed into the second half of the season and in a tight race within the NFC North. Morton had been struggling to find ways to get Gibbs and Williams involved in the offense the last few weeks, whereas Campbell seemed to have the magic touch with the O-line today and their run blocking.
READ MORE: Dan Campbell ruthlessly confirmed what Lions fans have begged for
It's clear as day that Morton's play-calling, despite how hard it's been to manage the running game with an injured offensive line, has been flat. Screen play after screen play have become the calling card of a Morton-led system, and it almost led to the phasing out of Wiliams from this offense completely.
A receiver who just finished up his 2024 with over 1,000 receiving yards should not be lacking in touches. And yet, here we are.
Campbell clearly has a lot more faith in his line and backups than Morton does, which is fine. Campbell's been around the block quite a few times with this dogged Lions team, so it makes sense that he feels more confident in them than Morton does at this moment.
But, they have enough talent on the ground and in the air to make up for their woes on the O-line. And, it's even more obvious that Campbell and Morton aren't meeting eye to eye about that.