Even before Christian Mahogany exited with an injury, the offensive line was caught napping, leaving Goff under constant pressure and taking five sacks. Although Jared Goff<\/a> had a decent game (284 yards with two touchdowns and no turnovers), the offense struggled on third down, converting only five of 17. An offense featuring so many exceptional talents shouldn\u2019t find itself in that many third-down situations.<\/p>\r\n Worse still, the Lions’ premier running game stalled at the line of scrimmage, resulting in a combined 65 yards with one touchdown. Vikings defender Blake Cashman punched the ball out of David Montgomery’s<\/a> hands, causing Montgomery to cough up a rare fumble.<\/a>\u00a0 The result was a Minnesota touchdown.<\/p>\r\n As Campbell described it, one mistake led to another. But it’s still just one loss and nine regular-season games remain.\u00a0In preparing\u00a0for the Washington Commanders<\/a>, there were several positive takeaways last week for the Lions to build on going forward. Cornerback Terrion Arnold<\/a> played a career-best game, notching his first interception and logging zero penalties. Sam LaPorta<\/a> was terrific with 6 receptions for 97 yards and a touchdown, while Jameson Williams<\/a> finally had his chance to shine, with four receptions for 66 yards and a brilliant 37-yard score.<\/p>\r\n One of the biggest complaints against the Lions’ offense this year is the lack of creativity. The Lions’ game strategy doesn’t vary much. The offense relies on one straight-up-the-middle running play after another, directly into a pile of defenders. It’s not working. Jahmyr Gibbs<\/a>‘ and Montgomery’s<\/a> skillset and superior athleticism transcend repetitive, predictable calls. They are capable of more than what they are being given in the offensive scheme. This needs to be addressed.<\/p>\r\n However, three consecutive throws to LaPorta helped the Lions get off to a strong start. Repeatedly going back to LaPorta was unexpected and caught the Vikings’ defense off guard. In the Lions’ opening series, Laporta accounted for 66 yards and a touchdown. Goff has an abundance of talented receivers. The Lions’ offense needs to keep the opposing defense off balance with creative and unexpected play calling. \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n A healthy Derrick Barnes<\/a> is back. On Sunday, he contributed five tackles (four solo) and another sack (his fourth this year). One of the defensive leaders on the team, Barnes is currently second in tackles this season with 48, ranking behind Jack Campbell,<\/a> who leads the team with 73.<\/p>\r\n Last year in Week 18, the Lions did a superlative job keeping the Vikings out of the end zone. The Lions allowed only three field goals for nine points. Amik Robertson dominated Justin Jefferson, holding him to three receptions for 54 yards. Once Kerby Joseph is back, along with Malcolm Rodriguez and potentially Marcus Davenport, the Lions defense will only get stronger. But whether the Lions defense is powered by the veteran Lions \u201cLegion of Boom,\u201d or the reserves’ \u201cLegion of Whom,\u201d the defense must do a better job of limiting the opponents’ red zone opportunities.<\/p>\r\n Two of the biggest plays that led to the Vikings’ upset over the Lions involved special teams’ mistakes. Early on, Dave Fipp’s<\/a> crew allowed a 61-yard kickoff return that effectively silenced the crowd at Ford Field. Later in the game, a crucial 45-yard field goal was blocked.<\/p>\r\n There are a number of talented players on special teams, and this unit typically performs much better. Jack Fox<\/a> is one of the premier punters in the NFL and continues to play at a superior level. Sunday, he punted five times for 238 yards. The special teams mistakes that led to the missed returns can be corrected. The same is true of Bates’ blocked field goal, which is being blamed on a low kick. With a few tweaks and minor changes, the special teams unit can be making a big impact once again. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Last season, the Lions were one of two teams, along with Kansas City, that set an NFL best record of 15-2. It was highly unlikely the Lions were going to duplicate last year\u2019s extraordinary record. Having already lost four games, the Chiefs won’t be meeting that standard either.<\/p>\r\n Rather, the Lions goal has been to make the playoffs and ride that postseason wave all the way. The best way to ensure a trip to the playoffs is to win the NFC North division. But in one of the league’s hardest divisions, the Lions face stiff competition from the Green Bay Packers,<\/a> Chicago Bears,<\/a> and the Vikings. Campbell was quoted during OTAs as saying he wouldn’t have it any other way.\u00a0He welcomed the competition.<\/a>\u201cJust to get through our division is going to be brutal. But it\u2019s the right kind of brutal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n On Sunday, the Lions ultimately ended up essentially giving the game away. The mistakes made through the blocked kick and fumble recovery resulted in two Minnesota touchdowns. Winning this division is tough enough. Detroit needs to stop giving up points through miscues, mistakes, and penalties. If they can do that, they can flip the narrative and regain control of their own destiny. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\r\n Main Photo: [Junfu Han] – Imagn Images<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A week ago, the Detroit Lions were one of the anointed Super Bowl favorites. Following a brutal loss, the team needs to shift the narrative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5208,"featured_media":253450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[8125,43,9781,9757,32285],"class_list":["post-253166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lions","tag-derrick-barnes","tag-detroit-lions","tag-jack-campbell","tag-jahmyr-gibbs","tag-terrion-arnold"],"modified_by":"Michael Zimmelman","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5208"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253166"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253451,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253166\/revisions\/253451"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Lions, Moving Forward and Focusing on Improvement<\/h3>\r\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27255019-1024x752.jpg\")
Lions Offense, Build On What Works, and Be More Creative<\/h3>\r\n
Lions Defense, Shut Down The Opposition On Third Down<\/h3>\r\n
![\"Derrick](\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/10\/Derrick-Barnes-1024x709.jpg\")
Lions Special Teams, Faster, Tougher, and Higher<\/h3>\r\n
Lions, A New Narrative \u00a0<\/h3>\r\n