The Detroit Lions got what they needed in Week 5: their most complete performance of the 2026 season, a win over the Arizona Cardinals that showed up on both sides of the ball and sent Dan Campbell’s team into the bye on a high note.
But a strong team outing doesn’t mean everyone came out of it smiling. A couple of Lions players saw their momentum stall in the desert, and their recent dip in usage and production is worth watching as the team resets for the second half of the season.
TeSlaa’s week against Arizona was a step backward after he’d started to build something. The second-year wide receiver was held without a catch for the first time since Week 1 against New Orleans, and it came on just two targets.
That stood out because he had put together back-to-back encouraging games before that, going against the Jets in Week 3 and the Panthers in Week 4. In both of those outings, he posted at least three receptions and more than 65 yards, including a career-high 95 yards in Detroit’s Week 4 loss in Carolina.
That stretch made it look like TeSlaa was carving out a larger piece of Drew Petzing’s offense. Instead, Week 5 interrupted that rise and left the Lions with a clear task coming out of the bye: find a bigger role for him in the passing game.
If TeSlaa’s stock slipped, Izien’s fell off a cliff. The fourth-year defensive back had a rough Week 4 against the Panthers, allowing five catches for 57 yards and a touchdown on five targets, which produced a passer rating of 153.8 when thrown his way.
His Pro Football Focus overall grade for that game was 45.6, his lowest of the season and a performance that fit the definition of a rough afternoon. Then came the bigger concern: he didn’t play a single defensive snap against Arizona in Week 5.
That kind of usage says plenty about where he stands on the depth chart right now. His position is shaky at the moment, but there’s still a belief that the Lions will need him again later this season.
In Other News...
Lions Fans Are Split On Brad Holmes For One Big Reason
Brad Holmes has built enough goodwill in Detroit to keep the discussion interesting, but the fan base is hardly speaking with one voice anymore. A recent poll on his job performance reflects that split, with some supporters still buying into the long-term plan and others focusing more on the areas that have not looked as sharp.
The biggest flashpoint has been the 2024 draft class, where the conversation has turned critical around the way the roster has held up at cornerback. At the same time, Holmes still has a strong case to make for himself through the way he has reshaped both lines, and that balance is what makes the reaction around his work so revealing right now. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Suddenly Have One More Packers Problem To Worry About
The Packers may be getting a timely boost just as the NFC North race starts to tighten up. Josh Jacobs is expected to be taken off the NFL commissioners exempt list and become eligible to play starting in Week 7, which puts his season debut in play against Detroit. For Green Bay, that would mean another layer of help for a run game that could use it in a divisional matchup with real early-season weight.
Jacobs has been sidelined since being placed on the exempt list after a May arrest, and the NFLs investigation is still ongoing because of unresolved evidence issues. Even so, the expectation is that he will be cleared to return to football activity right away, which gives the Packers a potential offensive reinforcement just as the Lions are preparing for one more problem to solve in the division. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Defense Just Earned The Kind Of Praise Fans Needed
Kelvin Sheppards defensive planning is starting to draw real notice around the league, and the praise this week came from an unlikely source. Arizona offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said the Lions had a unique and effective game plan in their Week 5 matchup, one that forced the Cardinals to adjust on the fly and look elsewhere for answers when they wanted to lean on their top targets.
For Detroit, that kind of feedback matters because it speaks to more than just one good afternoon. The Lions didnt just chase splash plays, they made Arizona work for every clean look and disrupted the rhythm that usually keeps an offense moving. The result was a stretch of empty possessions and a defense that looked prepared for the exact spots the Cardinals wanted to attack, even if the full details of how Sheppard pulled it off are still part of the story. [Read more 🡒]