BALTIMORE, Md. — It’s only Week 3.
The Detroit Lions are just two weeks removed from a dud of a showing to open the campaign in Green Bay. However, what they did on Monday Night Football against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens is the definition of a statement victory.
Still, they aren’t just back on track. These Lions look like the version of themselves, if not even better, while kicking their Super Bowl window wide open.
After dropping 52 points against former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears, they went into Baltimore and physically imposed their will against a perennial contender.
The Lions beat the Ravens 38-30. They sacked Jackson seven times. Shut down intimidating running back Derrick Henry, and forced another key fumble out of his grip to start the year. And Detroit’s offense ran two mesmerizing touchdown drives of at least 95 yards, wearing Baltimore’s short-handed defensive line down into a pulp.
And, most importantly, Dan Campbell did it his way.
Campbell’s offense was filled with creativity, as John Morton appears to have found his footing as offensive coordinator. He even went three-for-three on fourth-down attempts, including two that helped send the Ravens into a tough 1-2 hole.
Nobody who has been paying attention to the Lions for the past four-plus years should be surprised by those fourth-down attempts. But that doesn’t make them any less gutsy or aggressive.
They hand the ball off to a wide receiver, then have Amon-Ra St. Brown operate as the de facto option quarterback. But it worked, and it’s something the Lions have been practicing, waiting to unleash for a couple of years. It’s not a new design, as there is a video of the Dallas Cowboys running that look with who else but Campbell blocking as the tight end.
And it’s one thing to have a play like that in your pocket. It’s another to call it on the road against a high-quality opponent with no margin for error on fourth down.
It’s the timing and finger-on-the-pulse nature of when to call those trick plays that is most impressive.
Then, on fourth-and-2, with the ball at midfield in a one-score game at the two-minute warning, “Gamblin’ Dan” earned his nickname. The Ravens had all three timeouts and would have had another drive start with prime field position had anything gone wrong. But, once again, nothing went wrong.
Jared Goff ran the play-action fake and dropped the dime of all dimes to St. Brown for the 20-yard gain to set up the clinching touchdown by running back David Montgomery. The Lions didn’t just go for it; they took a shot, trusting that their lethal duo of Goff and St. Brown would take care of business.
And if all of that didn’t reek of Campbell’s identity and what he wants this team to be about, then look to those two drives where the Lions went 98 and then 96 yards down the field for touchdowns.
Detroit’s offense wore the Ravens down. They ran David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs down their throats all night, kept Jackson off the field, and got four touchdowns and 218 rushing yards from their lethal one-two running back punch.
The Lions took nearly 11 minutes off the clock on the 18-play, 98-yard scoring drive. They ran 13 times on that drive, which was the most rushes on a scoring drive since at least 2000. And on the 96-yard scoring drive? Montgomery carried the load, with his 72-yard run up the gut and elite vision, reminding the world that he’s another vital piece of this high-powered offense.
That just doesn’t happen against the Ravens, of any era, especially in Baltimore. The Ravens hadn’t allowed a scoring drive of more than 95 yards at home since 2001. And the Lions had two of those.
They are the first NFL team to have two touchdown drives of more than 95 yards in the same game since 2021. It’s also the first time the Lions have done something like that in 25 years.
Among all the things Campbell is likely enjoying a pint of gelato over, it’s those two epic drives.
“That’s not easy to do when you’re backed up like that,” Campbell said. “Normally, the goal is three first downs. That way, if you get three first downs, you are able to flip field position. But, to go above and beyond that and travel the distance against that opponent, with the crowd noise — the whole thing — that was impressive. Our guys had to dig now. They had to dig. Those are long drives.
“They did it, man. They did it.”
And how about that defense? With Marcus Davenport landing on injured reserve, the world, including yours truly, questioned the depth. The Lions didn’t do much to add to their pass-rusher room over the offseason, despite a constant barrage of questions and outside think pieces.
They believed in their pieces, and even with Davenport going down and the depth getting put back under the spotlight, they adjusted and found a way to make it work.
Morton will get a ton of praise after this win. But defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard worked some magic in manufacturing pressure and coming up with a plan to make Jackson’s life hell in the pocket.
The Lions sacked Jackson seven times. That doesn’t happen. It’s a performance that ties the most sacks the Ravens quarterback has taken in a game of his career. After a week of pointing to Al-Quadin Muhammad as the potential answer, he went out there and looked like the answer. Now, the edge rusher depth concerns aren’t going anywhere. But it’s worth noting Muhammad entered Monday night in the top 10 of pass-rush win rate and in the top 15 at his position, according to the folks at Pro Football Focus.
Then, he went out and posted 2.5 sacks, left his mark on a big goal-line stand in the first half and looked like someone who should be in the starting lineup and on the field as much as possible.
Once again, the Lions made adjustments and corrected their issues from the ugly opener. The offensive line held strong and clearly worked on their communication ahead of this game back in enemy territory. The defense was able to find pressure, with Hutchinson and Muhammad making noise on the edges. And they came out of this week’s game looking like a better team than the week before for the second straight weekend.
Much like owning the incorrect prediction and the potential disaster on the defensive edges, yours truly admitted he was wrong. This defense can hang with the best of them, despite getting put in tough situation after tough situation. There are ways to get Hutchinson rolling by creating pressure from the linebackers and unlocking Muhammad’s game, even with Davenport out for at least the next month.
As we like to say on the Dungeon of Doom podcast, “as long as Dan Campbell is here, the Lions will be more than fine.” Monday’s impressive win over the Ravens is the best proof of that thought being true.
It was such an electric, classic primetime game that it’s easy to imagine the football world being thrilled if these two teams were to run it back in February.
If these Lions can go into Baltimore and beat the Ravens like that? They can beat anyone, anywhere and at any time. Campbell’s gritty team makes it easy to believe in them, and they make it even easier to forget how bad it looked two weeks ago. They are very much a threat to the entire NFL.