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The Detroit Lions sustained a close loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1, but during the game, a major lesson was learned about the trajectory of the team.
Detroit is in a good place heading toward the rest of their 2022 schedule, and might be one of the hardest teams in the league to play this season. Already, that much seems clear to those paying attention.
Former Lions quarterback and ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky took to Twitter to explain his analysis of Detroit’s first game. As he said, he thinks the Lions are in good shape moving forward to be hard on the opposition this year.
The @Lions are going to be an absolute dog for every single team they play this year.
-offense was physically dominant and swift is a star. 4 pass catching threats are legit
-defense comes after you. Needed better contain of QB and Brown won 1 on 1 every time.
Good good team
“The Lions are going to be an absolute dog for every single team they play this year. Offense was physically dominant and Swift is a star. 4 pass catching threats are legit. Defense comes after you. Needed better contain of QB and Brown won 1 on 1 every time. Good good team,” Orlovsky tweeted.
Offensively, the Lions did a nice job and defensively, Orlovsky is right to say they have some corrections to make. Even such, if the Lions figure things out, they will be in good shape to do some damage this year.
Orlovsky seems to see this easily being the case, which could be bad news for the opposition.
Brian Baldinger Hypes Lions’ Offense
The reason Detroit looks so tough? It might be their new offensive coordinator Ben Johnson according to NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger. After the game, Baldinger gave Johnson a shout-out for the plays he drew up, especially with running back D’Andre Swift as his muse.
.@Lions are for real ! They got a great offensive mind in new OC; Ben Johnson. Very creative in the run game v a powerful DL of the @Eagles 35 points on Sunday; last year they scored 6! #OnePride #BaldysBreakdowns
“Lions are for real! They got a great offensive mind in new OC; Ben Johnson. Very creative in the run game vs a powerful DL of the Eagles 35 points on Sunday; last year they scored 6!,” Baldinger tweeted.
It was a sentiment that Baldinger echoed in the video breakdown as well, where Baldinger told Lions fans they have a solid mind coaching the offense.
“Listen to me, Lions fans, listen to me. You got yourself a great offensive coordinator in Ben Johnson (with) the things he did in the run game,” he said.
Specifically, Baldinger pointed to a few run plays, namely one on fourth down that the Lions were able to open up.
“Look at fourth and one. Look what this Ben Johnson is doing. Why is T.J. Hockenson over the left tackle? Why is Swift over here? What formation is this? Fourth and one, it’s all or nothing. Hockenson gets the block and Jonah Jackson walking Swift into the end zone. This was a good looking offensive game plan. It was just one good play after another,” Baldinger said.
Detroit scored the third-most points in the NFL this week, and showed that they are a team to take seriously moving forward. While Philadelphia is solid, the Lions will be able to give plenty of teams their best shot with efforts like this.
That could be what Orlovsky sees as set to play out in 2022 as well.
Rex Ryan Admits Lions Look Tough
It isn’t just Orlovsky or Baldinger that see the Lions as a suddenly tough foe. Former NFL head coach Rex Ryan also talked about that and admitted he thinks Detroit could be pretty good this season.
Joining The Pat McAfee Show, Ryan discussed his observations from the first week of the season, and an interesting nugget was included about the Lions. As he said, they were able to push Philadelphia and show something about where they could be trending.
I’m pretty sure Rex Ryan said the Lions are going 10-7 and winning a playoff game on the show today
“(Philadelphia was) challenged last week. Detroit ran the hell out of the football. So I’m like, ‘holy cow, maybe Detroit’s going to be good too.’ So we’ll see,” Ryan told McAfee on the show.
Add it up and it’s clear the narrative could finally be changing for good about the Lions.
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Former Quarterback: Lions ‘Going to Be Absolute Dog’ for NFL This Year