Week 1 usually tells you more about the teams than the scoreboard does, and the Lions’ 31-30 win over the New Orleans Saints was no exception. Some of what showed up on Sunday night felt predictable. Other parts were a lot harder to see coming.
The biggest surprise, though, was Detroit’s running game.
That’s the part that stood out most because the setup didn’t exactly scream smooth sailing. The offensive line had plenty working against it: Cade Mays’ injury, a left guard competition that never really settled, and a rookie right tackle all pointed toward early growing pains.
Then Christian Mahogany went down in the first quarter, and Ben Bartch - who barely got any first-team work in training camp - had to jump in. That should have made things messier.
Instead, the Lions kept running the ball effectively and showed a rushing success rate better than they averaged during Ben Johnson’s best years in Detroit.
The numbers back it up, too. Through Week 1, Detroit ranks eighth in PFF’s team run blocking grade at 69.7, fifth in adjusted line yards at 5.16, and third in yards before contact at 73. Those are the kind of indicators that tell you the line wasn’t just surviving - it was moving people.
Credit goes to the players for holding things together through the early adversity. Offensive line coach Hank Fraley deserves his share as well. And new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, who has been praised for his run-game scheme, clearly put his group in position to succeed.
That doesn’t mean everything on offense was clean. The overall performance was uneven, and there are fair questions to ask about Petzing’s play calling. But the run game looked back in a real way, and that was the most encouraging development of the night.
It was also a surprise considering the opponent. New Orleans came into the game with a run defense that ranked eighth in run defense DVOA, second in run defense EPA, and ninth in success rate allowed last season. Detroit still found a way to get it done on the ground.
In Other News...
Jake Bates Just Changed The Lions Conversation In A Big Way
Week 1 brought plenty of strange endings around the league, but none mattered more in Detroit than the way Jake Bates handled his first real test. In a season opener that ended 31-30 in overtime against the Saints, the Lions leaned on their kicker in a game that had to be decided one point at a time, and Bates answered by making all five of his kick attempts while accounting for seven points, including the extra point that finished it.
For a player who came into the season with preseason questions hanging over him, that kind of night changes the tone around the position immediately. The Lions are 1-0, and while the opener did not settle every concern in the building, it gave Detroit a clean look at a kicker who suddenly has a much different place in the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Brad Holmes May Have Found A Lions Rookie They Can't Ignore
Skyler Gill-Howard arrived in Detroit with the kind of profile that usually points to a practice-squad path, not a quick climb into the game plan. But the rookie defensive tackle worked his way onto the 53-man roster and then made his presence felt right away against the New Orleans Saints, turning in the highest PFF defensive grade among rookie defensive tackles in Week 1 with a 71.6 mark.
For a Lions front that leans on depth and disruption, that kind of debut is exactly the sort of thing that gets attention in the building. Gill-Howard has already sounded comfortable with his role, and with Buffalo next on the schedule, the question now is whether his first real impression turns into something the Lions can keep counting on as the matchups get tougher. [Read more 🡒]
Stephen A. Smith Just Turned One Lions Concern Into A Real Debate
The Lions got the season started with an overtime win over the Saints, but the way they arrived there left plenty of room for national second-guessing. On ESPNs First Take, Stephen A. Smith zeroed in on Detroits defense after the team squandered a 21-point lead, pointing to a performance that still looked too shaky for a club trying to build on last seasons momentum.
Smith had no issue with the offense, which again looked like the kind of unit that can carry a team for long stretches. His concern was whether the defense can clean up enough to keep Detroit in the division hunt and make the playoffs, and it is the sort of question that tends to linger until the Lions prove otherwise. [Read more 🡒]