Why Campbell feels better about Lions at 3-2 this year than 5-2 last year

One year ago Tuesday, the Lions entered their bye fresh off a 24-9 win over the Buccaneers on Monday Night Football. They were 5-2. They hadn't lost back to back games in three years.

They haven't won back to back games since.

And yet Dan Campbell feels better -- maybe a lot better -- about this year's team coming out of the bye at 3-2. You can look at one unit to understand why: a young, improving offensive line. The same unit last year was aging and beginning to break down, and Campbell knew it.

As Campbell admitted Monday, everything "seemed pretty good" entering last year's bye. The Lions, on the surface, were still humming along, averaging over 30 points per game. But if you looked under the hood, "there were some things that you could feel a little bit," said Campbell.

"In some regards I feel better going into this bye than even I did last year, because I know we're ascending and we're young and we're growing," he said. "And that's exciting. Sometimes you feel like you're topped off and maybe you're beginning to deteriorate because of issues, worn down, age, whatever it is. I do feel like we're on the rise here a little bit."

The context of this comment matters. Campbell was responding to a question about his rebuilt offensive line, and how it's helping the Lions rediscover their identity. The trajectory of that unit was always going to determine the arc of this team. It doesn't boast near the proven talent of those elite outfits in 2023 and 2024 that powered the Lions to consecutive division titles. But it has so much more room to grow than last year's line that was a weakness by season's end.

Due to attrition, injuries and general decline, the O-line in 2025 really had nowhere to go but down over the course of 17 games. Penei Sewell was already the best right tackle in the NFL. Taylor Decker and Graham Glasgow, who was thrust into center after the retirement of Frank Ragnow, were battered and, as it turns out, in the final seasons of their 10-year careers. Aside from rookie guard Tate Ratledge, the group just wasn't in a position to improve, especially when Christian Mahogany went down with a leg injury.

And the depth wasn't nearly sturdy enough once injuries struck on the interior. The top reserves at guard and center were replacement-level players, at best, in Kayode Awosika, Trystan Colon and Kingsley Eguakun. And replacement-level production is what the Lions got, if that.

This year, the Lions have an emerging right tackle in rookie Blake Miller next to Ratledge, who's growing into a pillar. Those two already look like one of the best young tackle-guard duos in the NFL. On the other end of the line, Sewell has found his footing at left tackle, where Campbell suggested Monday that Sewell might be even better than he was on the right. Next to Sewell, Mahogany is coming along after an injury in Week 1.

And at center, the Lions are about to plug their marquee free agent acquisition into the lineup in Cade Mays. They've survived his absence thanks to the strong play of Juice Scruggs, another offseason addition. Assuming Mays takes over full time at center -- the Lions didn't give him a three-year, $25 million for nothing -- Scruggs will join the battle at left guard, where Ben Bartch has already pushed Mahogany.

The return of Mays actually presents the Lions with a good problem to solve, given how well Scruggs has played at center.

"I think the best way to do this — there’s a reason why we signed Cade — is, let’s try to get him going, and then we know Juice can do a little bit of everything for us," Campbell said Monday on Lions Review. "Let’s get comfortable there (at center), and then we know Juice can compete at guard or be ready to play at center if things go one way or another."

The question this year wasn't whether the offensive line could recapture its form from a couple years ago when it was comprised of veteran stalwarts at every position and anchored in the middle by maybe the best center in the game. That would be an unfair ask of such a green group. It was simply: can it become a strength of the team again?

It's headed in the right direction, and that's what Campbell's talking about.

"We've just got to keep getting better, " Campbell said. "We've got to keep testing ourselves. And look, we're in for the long haul now and it's really about to get geared up. The competition is about to really rise up another level, and it starts with Green Bay."

Over the final six games last season when the Lions crashed out of the playoff race and fell to fourth in the North, their ground game disappeared. They ran for 83.8 yards per game and 3.6 yards per carry, both of which would have ranked last in the NFC over the course of the season. And Jared Goff was under seige.

So far this year, they're running for 114.2 yards per game and 4.4 per carry, and Goff is back to cooking in play action. The rushing attack still isn't as consistent or explosive as the Lions would like, but it's a real threat again. And that's the foundation of this offense.

Indeed, restoring the downhill running game to reopen the play-action passing game was the vision for Campbell in hiring Drew Petzing, who presided over some elite rushing attacks in Arizona.

"That’s exactly what a lot of this was about, was getting everything back to the things that we do and we do well, and having somebody that also has a fresh set of eyes with different things," Campbell said on Lions Review. "But we’re not gonna go away from what Jared Goff does well and what our offense is set up to do. Everything starts with the run game and the play-action, or starts with the play-action which leads into the run game. But it’s under center. That’s the starting point. And it’s a physical brand of football, and make ‘em bite and then we get our explosives down the field. Drew’s done a heck of a job."

The Lions grew into a true contender in the NFC because their offensive line was one of the best in the game. Their defense will still determine the ceiling of this year's team, but the floor is beginning to feel more stable thanks to an O-line that can be trusted again. 12 games remain, half of which come against the NFC North. The division -- a combined 16-6, by far the best in football -- is anyone's for the taking.

"I think we are improving in areas, and there's still a lot of room to improve, but I do think we're beginning to figure out who we are a little bit here," Campbell said.

At this time last year, there was a lot of room to regress, which is exactly what the offensive line did in the second half of the season. A year later the Lions are 3-2, and better positioned to keep growing over the next two and a half months -- and possibly beyond.