Even in a rebuild, this was not what anyone had in mind.
The Detroit Lions hit the midpoint of their season as the only winless team in the NFL. They rank 31st in scoring offense, 31st in scoring defense and have lost their eight games by an average of 13.5 points.
That’s similar to what the organization went through in 2008, when the Lions became the first team in NFL history to go 0-16.
First-year Lions coach Dan Campbell, a player on that 2008 team, is not yet worried about eclipsing that team as the worst in franchise — and maybe NFL — history. But in the new 17-game season, that possibility is at least in the cards.
“You can’t think like that and we’re not going to let them think like that,” Campbell said Monday. “All we’ve got to worry about is, ‘How do we go into this game, for example, in two weeks, and we beat Pittsburgh? What do we have to do to move the football, score touchdowns? How do we limit their explosive plays? How do we shut down this running back? Special teams, how do we gain an advantage?’ That has got to be our sole focus. You can’t think of anything else.”
It’s hard not to think about the possibility of 0-17 given the way the Lions have played so far and given what’s left on their schedule.
The Lions play back-to-back road games after the bye against the Steelers and Cleveland Browns, and play just four of their remaining nine games against teams with losing records. They are without their best offensive and defensive players (Frank Ragnow and Romeo Okwara) for the remainder of the season. And they have a decrepit roster that lacks impact talent.
Not everything the Lions did in the season’s first two months was bad. They took the Baltimore Ravens and Minnesota Vikings to the wire, losing on long, last-second field goals, and in one case, a record-setting kick. Campbell has energized players with his passion and aggressive decision-making. And the Lions appear to have a good, young nucleus of talent.
But as the Lions take the bye week to reflect on what more they can do to win games, their midseason grades reflect the disappointing spot they’re in.
Quarterback
Brad Holmes said before the season the Lions had enough talent in place to properly evaluate Jared Goff at quarterback, but I’m not sure that’s the case. Goff has struggled with turnovers this year and frequently refuses to challenge defenses downfield, but he is playing behind an injury-riddled offensive line, with next to nothing in his receiving corps, and for a coordinator whose play-calling leaves much to be desired.
Goff was at his best in the first half of a Week 2 loss to the Green Bay Packers, when he completed 13 of his first 14 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns. He is completing 67% of his passes overall and has been a consummate leader, running offseason workouts and staying late to work with receivers after practices.
But Goff’s shortcomings — he’s not as accurate as his completion percentage suggests, not mobile enough to make plays with his feet and his late-game decision-making has been an issue — are evident every time he steps on the field. Goff has been charged with 10 turnovers in eight games, is averaging an NFL-worst 6.3 intended air yards per attempt and has run into several of his 22 sacks. Bottom line, he is the leader of an offense that’s often painful to watch. Grade: D-plus
Running backs
The Lions have gone into most games this season wanting to run the ball, and they’ve had decent success despite facing persistently heavy run boxes. D’Andre Swift is the Lions’ only legitimate big-play threat, and he and Jamaal Williams account for 43% of their yards from scrimmage (a combined 1,115 yards rushing and receiving).
Swift has been more productive as a receiver than a rusher. He averages just 3.2 yards per carry, but is on pace to catch 100 passes and has turned two screens into long touchdowns. Swift did lose a fumble that was returned for a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles and he did have miscommunications with Goff on incomplete passes that would have gone for big gains against the Rams and Ravens.
Jamaal Williams has a team-high 312 yards rushing on 71 carries and has sparked the offense at times with his physical play. He had strong games against the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears and would have even more production if the Lions had not fallen behind big in so many games. One thing lacking from the run game is the big play, as neither Williams nor Swift has a run longer than 20 yards. Grade: C-plus
Receivers/tight ends
Campbell lamented the offense’s dink-and-dunk approach to the passing game last week, but some of that is out of necessity as the Lions lack a true No. 1 or even a No. 2 receiver. Kalif Raymond has filled some of the void. He caught two touchdowns against the Bears and had a career-high 115 yards against the Rams, but was a nonfactor in losses to the Eagles, Vikings and Packers.
Both Raymond (26 catches, 334 yards) and rookie Amon-Ra St. Brown (27-250) are above-average perimeter blockers, but the Lions have little else in their receiving corps. Tyrell Williams has not played since suffering a brain injury in Week 1, Quintez Cephus broke his collar bone and is out for the season, and trade addition Trinity Benson has been a disappointment.
Tight end T.J. Hockenson is Goff’s favorite target, and for good reason. His production has waned at times in the face of constant double-teams, but he had back-to-back eight-catch games to start the season and a career-high 10 catches against the Eagles.
Hockenson needs to be a better blocker and win more consistently against those double-teams to join the ranks of the NFL’s elite tight ends, but he has had a nice season so far. The Lions need more out of their No. 2 tight end spot, where Darren Fells has seen his role reduced in recent weeks. Grade: D-plus
Offensive line
The Lions have been without their two best linemen most of the season, and that has negatively impacted the play of what was supposed to be their strongest offensive unit. They rank 20th in yards per carry, 22nd in sack percentage allowed and are coming off their worst collective game of the season.
Left guard Jonah Jackson got beat on the pass rush by Aaron Donald that forced the game-changing interception in a Week 7 loss to Rams, but has been the Lions’ most consistent lineman this season. He and rookie Penei Sewell give the Lions a formidable left side to run behind. Sewell has allowed a team-high six sacks, but he’s played well enough for a rookie — especially one who spent all of training camp playing right tackle and moved to the left side four days before the season opener — to think he will bump Taylor Decker to right tackle as soon as 2022.
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Matt Nelson has been a liability in pass protection at times. I put 15 of the Lions’ 23 sacks allowed primarily at the feet of offensive linemen, including four by Nelson. Halapoulivaati Vaitai, who has had a bounce-back season after struggling through injury in 2020, is the only starter not to allow a sack. At center, Ragnow was having another fine season until he suffered a turf toe injury that required season-ending surgery. Evan Brown is not the finisher Ragnow is, but has proven to be a capable center in Ragnow’s place. Grade: C
Defensive line
The Lions have good depth in the middle of their defensive line, but they’ve been leaky against the run on the perimeter and have not produced enough big plays in the backfield. Combined, the line has 18 tackles for loss on the season, with 12 coming on sacks, and has allowed conversions on 7 of 10 third- or fourth-and-1 runs.
The pass rush has been relatively nonexistent at times, with the Lions recording one or fewer sacks in half of their eight games. Charles Harris has team highs of four sacks and six quarterback hits, and he led a ferocious rush in the final minute against Lamar Jackson — a rush that was reined in by play-calling on the Ravens’ fourth-and-long conversion.
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Harris has had a quiet past three weeks, while Julian Okwara has emerged as the Lions’ best pass rusher in the absence of his brother, Romeo, who was playing well before a season-ending torn Achilles tendon. The younger Okwara has seen his playing time tick up every game this season, but both he and Austin Bryant need to be better against the run. Trey Flowers is the Lions’ best edge run defender. He made a hustle play to force a fumble on Deebo Samuel in Week 1, but has not produced much pass rush while battling a knee injury.
Among interior linemen, veterans Nick Williams and Michael Brockers have been consistently solid but unspectacular. Brockers is playing a slightly different role than he did with the Rams, and his power up front has helped the Lions nullify opposing tight ends. Rookies Alim McNeill and Levi Onwuzurike have flashed potential, with Onwuzurike playing particularly well against the Vikings and Rams. Neither, though, has made an impact as a pass rusher. Grade: C-plus
Linebackers
The Lions made a major change at linebacker early in the season, benching and then releasing the aging Jamie Collins and using a rotation of Jalen Reeves-Maybin and rookie Derrick Barnes at the inside linebacker spot next to Alex Anzalone. Reeves-Maybin plays weakside linebacker when he’s on the field, Barnes in the middle. The rotation has been better, but overall the unit has been a big part of the Lions’ struggles against the run (30th in the NFL at 134.5 ypg allowed).
Anzalone is a Campbell favorite and does a lot in terms of setting the defense, but he got off to a slow start this season and is tied for the team lead with six missed tackles. He does have the linebackers’ only interception, off a deflected pass by Tracy Walker. Reeves-Maybin earns high marks for his hustle, but he has four missed tackles and is allowing a passer rating against of 131.5, according to Pro Football Reference. He delivered a big play against the Vikings, when he ripped the ball from Alexander Mattison’s hands to give the Lions a late chance at victory.
Barnes looks like he will be a good player in time, but he, too, has had some costly errors. He missed a tackle on a 48-yard run by Mattison at the line of scrimmage and allowed a key catch-and-run by Cooper Kupp to help the Rams get out of the shadow of their goal line on their go-ahead touchdown drive. Barnes (31 tackles, two TFLs) does add a physical element to the middle of the defense. Grade: D
Defensive backs
The Lions have been bad against the pass all season. They allow the most yards per attempt (9.3) in the NFL, they rank 31st in opponent quarterback rating and only the Kansas City Chiefs have allowed more pass plays of 40-plus yards. Several of those big plays came early in the season, when communication errors led to coverage busts. And it hasn’t helped that they’ve started six different cornerbacks in eight games, three of them rookies.
Walker has been the one stabilizing force in the secondary. Coming off a tough 2020 season, he has 43 tackles and is tied for the team lead with four pass deflections. The Lions have gotten subpar production from the other safety position as neither Will Harris nor Dean Marlowe has registered a pass breakup. Harris is allowing 18.6 yards per completion on 25 targets, per Pro Football Reference.
Amani Oruwariye is the only Lions defensive back with an interception, but he’s been called for five penalties this season and he got absolutely torched by Justin Jefferson (seven catches, 124 yards) in an October loss to the Vikings. Jeff Okudah gave up a 79-yard bomb to Deebo Samuel before he tore his Achilles tendon in Week 1, Bobby Price looked woefully overmatched in two starts as Okudah’s replacement and undrafted rookie cornerbacks Jerry Jacobs and A.J. Parker have overachieved despite their inconsistencies. Parker, the Lions’ top slot cornerback all season, has missed six tackles and allowed completions on 80% of the balls thrown his way. Grade: D
Special teams
The Lions had a special teams game for the ages against the Rams, converting two fake punts and a surprise onside kick. They rank fifth in the NFL in Football Outsiders’ composite special teams rankings through eight weeks, and are the only NFL team with two successful onside tries this year.
Jack Fox and the entire punting unit are at the core of the Lions’ special teams strength. Fox is netting 45.1 yards per punt, slightly above his average from when he set the franchise record last year, and the Lions have a good group of core coverage players led of late by the unheralded Josh Woods.
Austin Seibert is 10 of 12 on field goal attempts, with misses wide left from 47 and 51 yards, and Ryan Santoso made his only kick in a tough situation — to give the Lions a brief lead late against the Ravens, when he was a COVID fill-in for Seibert. One knock: The Lions have not done much on returns, though Raymond has had limited chances and the Lions have mostly avoided negative plays in the kick game. Grade: A-minus
Coaching
It is hard to be too critical of Campbell and his staff given they have one of the worst rosters in the NFL and are clearly building for the future. But fact is, the Lions are the only 0-8 team in a league designed for parity and the coaching staff has not done enough to produce wins.
Campbell has been appropriately aggressive with his decision-making. He gave the Lions a chance against a very good Rams team because of his unorthodox game plan and he has a strong appetite for analytically approved risk on fourth downs. Campbell has put his team in bad situations with rushed play calls twice, once on a failed fourth-down conversion against the Bears and again late in the first half last week against the Eagles, when he admitted to being outcoached. Campbell is a straight shooter behind closed doors and players seem to embrace his scrappy approach, but he also is learning on the job in some areas and that can be costly to a team with such a slim margin for error.
Offensively, Anthony Lynn has been more creative with his motions and personnel sets than expected, but he has struggled to create space for players who cannot do so on their own. Specifically, Lynn needs to find a way to unlock the vertical passing game, even with obvious limitations on the roster.
Aaron Glenn has star qualities as a defensive coordinator, but many of his unit’s early-season problems seemed mental as opposed to physical. Perhaps that’s a product of youth; the Lions have 10 first- or second-year players averaging more than 20 snaps per game. But defensively, the Lions have had costly breakdowns at key times.
Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp has done an admirable job with a rotating cast of core players, and the development and/or re-emergence of players like Walker, Jackson and Julian Okwara is at least somewhat attributable to their position coaches. Grade: C
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.