If you didn't tune into Thursday Night Football for Week 3 after sitting through the Buffalo Bills' win over the Detroit Lions, let me clue you in to what folks witnessed: a blowout win over the Green Bay Packers...by the Atlanta Falcons.
Yes, those Falcons. The team that looked like they could be up for relegation through two weeks of action were able to make the Packers look like a tanking team.
What went wrong for Green Bay? Well, their offensive line could barely keep Jordan Love clean - as a result of relentless pressure, he finished up with a QBR of 42.6, and a passer rating of just 75.4. He also had one pick on the night. Outside of love were troubles with the Packers' defensive and offensive lines. The O-line fell apart consistently in this game, while their D-line did nothing to work and contain Bijan Robinson.
Oh, and they only rushed for 17 yards.
This kind of game serves as an excellent reminder to Lions fans ahead of Week 3 against the New York Jets - anything can happen in any given week in the NFL, but the things that lost the Packers this game are not factors for Detroit to worry about moving forward.
Panic around Lions' start to season now feels premature
Aside from the fact that the NFC North feels very wide open as a result of this loss, the Lions' schedule is also far easier than what the Packers have in store for the rest of the season.
We're talking about a difference between the 22nd and 26th weakest remaining strength of schedule on the year, to be sure, but it feels like a bigger cavern for Green Bay to jump over with how many big weaknesses they have that will be hard to fix in a year.
READ MORE: Lions vs. Jets Week 3 tracker: Injury updates, prediction, storylines, and more
Detroit, on the flip side, has a decent core for their offensive line. In fact, you have to really appreciate how good Jared Goff looked in 2025 despite how bad their O-line play was, because Love couldn't recreate that same magic.
With respect to their run-stopping, they've been extremely effective on that front this season: they're allowing an average of 4.8 rushing yards per game, although they could improve on that front with 147 rushing yards allowed per game on average so far.
And, obviously, the Lions don't have to worry too much about their running game with Jahmyr Gibbs in tow.
We know what the Lions' weaknesses are: a poor secondary and the occasional silence from their D-line. But, these are fixable problems, and it's only Week 3. Green Bay, on the other hand, might be stuck with what they've got - and that's got to be music to Lions fans' ears headed into Sunday.
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