As much as any team in the league, the Lions follow their offensive line. When it crumbled in Week 1, the game plan collapsed. When it responded in Week 2, the Lions hung 50 on the Bears.
Dan Campbell was raving after the game about the performances of Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown when he stopped and said, "More importantly, this offensive line played I thought a really, really good game. Protection, run game, they really got us going."
Much is being made about the big boys up front, and for good reason. For the last three years, the Lions boasted one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. Now they have essentially two rookies playing on either side of a center who's spent the bulk of his career at guard. The unit was overwhelmed in the season opener by a raucous crowd and a loaded defensive front in Green Bay.
Back home in Detroit, "Everything was better," Christian Mahogany said after the Lions demolished the Bears. "I don’t know what people expected, but everything turned out better, huh?"
The Lions hammered communication in practice last week after the O-line struggled to get on the same page against the Packers. Most of the missed assignments up front owed to the offense operating in the silent count, and led to the Lions averaging fewer yards per play (3.8) than they had in any game over the prior three seasons. Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery combined for barely 2.0 yards per carry.
A week later, the Lions averaged the most yards per play (8.8) in franchise history. Gibbs and Montgomery combined for about 6.5 yards per carry and two touchdowns. Verbal communication went a long way for the offensive line, especially the newcomers on the interior.
"Being able to hear all the calls without that crowd noise," said Tate Ratledge, "was a huge difference."
Ratledge and Mahogany, in particular, spent most of the Packers game on their heels. The offensive line was on the front foot against the Bears from the very first play, a 34-yard pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown where Jared Goff had a perfectly clean pocket against Chicago's five-man rush. The drive ended when Gibbs ran untouched around the left edge behind strong blocks by Mahogany, Taylor Decker and two tight ends for a six-yard touchdown.
Ratledge said he could feel the Lions leaning on the Bears from the start, especially in the run-blocking department: "It was definitely a different vibe than last time we started off the game, as far as pushing off the ball."
And when the Lions are running it, "it opens up everything" said Ratledge. "As you saw, it opened up the passing game. It spreads (the defense) out." The Packers shut down Detroit's vertical passing attack because they never had to bring down extra defenders to stop the run. The Bears, not so much. Goff had a perfect passer rating in play-action. His first of five touchdowns came after a play fake to Montgomery that drew safety Kevin Byard toward the line and allowed Brock Wright to scoot past him for an easy pitch and catch.
"The whole offense played really well," said Mahogany. "When Jared's in a zone like that, he’s unbelievable, so all the credit to our skill players making plays. We just gotta protect him, and that’s what it will look like."
Against the Packers, Mahogany was charged with four quarterback pressures and two sacks, per PFF. Ratledge was charged with three pressures and one sack. Mahogany didn't allow a single pressure on 29 pass-blocking snaps against the Bears; Ratledge allowed one. A week after the Packers racked up 16 pressures, nine hits and four sacks against Goff, the Bears mustered four pressures, two hits and zero sacks.
Mahogany earned the top pass-blocking grade for the Lions in Week 2, from PFF. Having been here last year, he knows the standard in the offensive line room is high. One game isn't enough to meet it. Asked if he and Ratledge felt like they made a statement against the Bears as a duo, Mahogany said, "No. No. We're still playing. We're going to play the same way. We have to continue to get better each week, that's it."
If not a statement, they certainly made a stand. And an important one against another division rival to help the Lions avoid an 0-2 start. Goff, who's as good as any quarterback in the game when he's kept clean, felt the offensive line "really gelled" against the Bears, "in particular Tate and Mahogany, as younger players, were able to get last week out of the way and settle in a little bit today."
"And more so Tate than Mahogany, who had experience last year, but I thought Tate played great today," said Goff. "I haven’t seen the tape, but at least in pass pro, it felt firm there, he felt strong. It felt like he was pushing downhill. It felt like he really settled in."
A bigger challenge awaits, next Monday in Baltimore. The Lions will be back in a hostile environment against a historically stout defense, though the Ravens will be without one of their top pass-rushers, Kyle Van Noy. The offensive line will likely be forced into silent communication again, which takes time to iron out. It will have the benefit, at least, of a couple games under its belt.
"It’ll be loud at Baltimore," said Campbell, "but I do believe we’ll be much better prepared than we were" in Green Bay.
It's true for most teams, and especially the Lions: It starts and ends with the O-line. When the big boys play well, said Campbell, "it really allows us to do a lot."
"And that’s a prideful unit. We had a couple young guys in there that I thought played better, and they’re only going to get better the more reps they get."