They are better. This is clear. By how much is unclear.
These are not the same Detroit Lions. This is not a three-win team — barring lots of injuries. This is not the same group that scored 35 or more once last season, and that was the final game against Green Bay, when the Packers sat their starters.
Philadelphia didn’t sit its starters, as far as I know. Starters that made up one of the better defenses in the NFL a year ago.
Yet there was running back D’Andre Swift, darting up the middle, cutting outside, leaning into contact every time he got into the secondary. And there was T.J. Hockenson, hauling in a critical pass on a crossing route, a route he ran all afternoon Sunday at Ford Field.
And, finally, there was Jared Goff, lofting a ball to the right corner of the end zone, dropping a touchdown pass over the shoulder and into the arms of DJ Chark to pull the Lions within three points with a few minutes left in the game.
They had a chance.
CARLOS MONARREZ:Lions disappoint with conservative offense early against Eagles
A year ago, they didn’t.
On Sunday, they lost by a foot.
Or at least they lost the chance to tie or win the game when, on fourth-and-1 from near midfield with 50 seconds or so left in the game and the Eagles leading 38-35, Jalen Hurts, the Eagles’ elusive quarterback, who’d slipped from the pocket and glided to first downs all afternoon, dove into a pile with the ball and inched his way to the first down.
Philadelphia took a couple of knees and ran out the clock.
No experiment has a perfect control, but this is the second year in a row these teams met at Ford Field. The first time the Lions lost, 44-6. Sunday, they lost by three.
You want to call that a participation-trophy view of the NFL? That’s your choice.
I’d call it giving what happened in the season opener some context. Dan Campbell, the Lions head coach, said as much last week, that he and his staff and his team would get an immediate test of how much they’d all gotten better.
Well, they got better.
Up front defensively, where the line, led by Charles Harris and rookie Aidan Hutchinson, consistently got into the pocket and pressured Hurts. Now, they overshot him too many times, giving him lanes to escape and scoot downfield.
Still, they were there, and against less nimble quarterbacks, those pressures should lead to sacks or hurried throws and help end drives. Hurts will do this to other teams.
This will be an issue all season, no doubt. The Lions had one of the worst defenses in the league last year. It’s not all going to get fixed in a single offseason.
But there was improvement, even if only from the first half to the second. There is also improvement in the middle, where the linebacker play was solid and looks like it might get better. The safeties looked fine, too.
And while the cornerbacks struggled, especially Amani Oruwariye, they slowed Philly enough to give the offense a chance. In the meantime, Hutchinson and Co. will need to work on slowing down when they get to the quarterback. In fact, he and his teammates got better at it in the second half. They just couldn’t come up with the final stop.
One botched snap on third-down late in the fourth and the defense might not have needed that final stop. Or one more throw from Goff. Or one less drop from the receivers.
None of it was perfect. Yet the offense dropped 35 on a more than respectable defense. Swift, in particular, looked like a budding star.
The running back ran for 144 yards on 15 carries. He caught three passes for 31 yards. Not a bad haul for his season debut.
Goff struggled to get going in the first and second quarters but found rhythm after halftime. He overthrew a few times, and he dumped balls underneath instead of taking shots down the field. His receivers weren’t always open, either.
Despite all of it, the Lions had a chance late it the game against a team that made the playoffs last season. No matter how you consider it, this is progress.
Yes, wins are what matter. Yet this season has to be about progress, too.
On Sunday during the Lions’ season opener, they made some. For now, that’ll have to do.
Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.