Without their star rookie defensive back and their star free agent safety, the Lions forced Bryce Young and the Panthers to punt on their opening drive. And without their star rookie running back and their superstar wide receiver, the offense took the field and went 81 yards in three plays and never looked back. This is what a contender looks like.
The Lions dismantled the Panthers from start to finish Sunday at Ford Field, a good team abusing a bad team. Indeed, that’s what good teams do. Favored by double digits, the Lions jumped ahead 14-0 and won going away, 42-24. The fans were giddy by halftime and headed for the exits before time had run out, another victory in the bag. At this time last year, the bags were on their heads.
Through five games last season, the Lions were 1-4, and 4-17-1 under Dan Campbell. They had just been shut out by the Patriots in maybe the most dispiriting loss of the Campbell-Brad Holmes era. Doubts about the rebuild were real. Now they're 4-1, 12-3 under Campbell since last November and growing stronger by the week. Visions of a home playoff game are vibrant.
"I feel like we’re just doing what we’re supposed to do," said offensive tackle and co-captain Penei Sewell. "Really no statement. We just stay in our own lane. If you want us, we’re there. We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing."
Defensively, what the Lions have done against the run cannot be overstated. It was the biggest question of this team a month ago. Detroit has answered it, so far, with the best run defense in the NFL. The Lions' only slip in the second half of last season came against the Panthers, who gutted them on the ground and left their playoff dreams in tatters. They responded Sunday by holding Carolina to under 100 yards rushing, including just 32 yards for Miles Sanders.
Against No. 1 running backs this season -- Isiah Pacheco, Kenneth Walker, Bijan Robinson, Aaron Jones and Sanders -- the Lions have allowed 3.2 yards per carry. Those same running backs, through four weeks, had averaged 4.9 yards per carry against everyone else. Speaking of growing stronger by the week, Alim McNeill ripped the ball out of Sanders' arms in Panthers territory early in the second quarter, setting up a touchdown drive for the offense that put the Lions up 21-7.
"I still wouldn’t say we have done anything, honestly," said McNeill. "But we’re letting teams know that we’re here to play, we’re here to compete, every week. I feel like that’s the statement that’s been put out: we play hard, we’re violent on the field, we execute. But we haven’t done anything yet, you feel me? That’s what we’re trying to be."
If there was a question for the Lions on offense this season, wasn't it their wide receiver depth? There was angst about what might happen if Amon-Ra St. Brown got hurt. With St. Brown sidelined by an abdomen injury Sunday, Jared Goff only had his best game of the season. He slung two touchdown passes to Sam LaPorta, another to Josh Reynolds and then plunged in for a fourth because he was having that much fun. The Lions piled up seven touchdowns and Goff completed passes to eight different players.
Reynolds, by the way, is playing like a legitimate WR2. He has real chemistry with Goff going back to their days with the Rams -- "I think I'm a good safety cushion for him," he said -- and he's on pace for career highs in receptions, yards and touchdowns. He says the Lions have proven to themselves "exactly what we knew: that we got a team."
"We are gritty, and now we know how to win, and I think a lot of teams are seeing that," said Reynolds. "You’re going to have to play four quarters against us."
Even then, it might not be enough. The 0-5 Panthers are not a good team, and the Lions never let them believe otherwise. They took the lead on a 42-yard touchdown by David Montgomery, who's racing toward a career year himself. The Lions splurged on Montgomery in a depressed running back market and he's been worth every dollar. After four years of tough sledding in Chicago, he's running downhill behind an elite offensive line in Detroit.
"David is a bulldozer," said McNeill. "I’m glad he’s on our team, I can’t lie to you. I don’t have to play against him no more. ... If he gets you one good time in your chest, you might feel it the rest of the week. He’s one of those type of guys. And he’s got the speed to him, too. He's a really good running back."
Midway through the first quarter Sunday, the Lions were leading 14-0 in front of another sell-out crowd at Ford Field, the loudspeakers were blaring ‘Lose Yourself’ and Eminem himself was in the building. They flashed to him on the video board, hood over his head in a suite, and he riled up the fans as his words rattled the rafters. After decades of waiting for something to believe in, you’re allowed to lose yourself in this team.
Missing C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Brian Branch on Sunday, the Lions forced three turnovers, including an interception each by Jerry Jacobs and Aidan 'Bare Hands' Hutchinson. Missing St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs, they piled up 42 points. Ben Johnson continues to innovate, as the Lions elevate. In an offense with plenty of mouths to feed, no one's going hungry.
"It makes us unpredictable," said Montgomery. "We got a lot of high-powered guys on this side of the ball and I think we’re pretty dynamic, too. Sometimes when you get a bunch of great players, it’s hard to figure out where you’re going to put the ball. Ben does a great job of being sure that everybody touches the ball so they can go showcase what they can do and we can showcase who we can be."
Five players touched it on LaPorta's first touchdown alone, a double-reverse flea-flicker that went from Frank Ragnow to Goff to Montgomery to Jameson Williams back to Goff and 31 yards down the field to LaPorta. Montgomery might as well have been Eminem, sounding out the intro to his most famous song, when he captured the moment to say this: "You get certain chances and certain opportunities in life to see if you can capitalize on them, or you fold. And we got guys on this team who capitalize every chance they get."
The psychology in the Lions' locker room has changed dramatically. When the players tell themselves they expect to win, they actually mean it. It shifted last season when they started trading blows with some of the NFL's best, like the Bills on Thanksgiving, and grew stronger when they started winning games they were supposed to lose, like at Lambeau Field in the season finale. Their self-belief is firmer now than ever. Once they found the "recipe for success," said Sewell, "we just kept burying ourselves into it."
Sewell and McNeill arrived in 2021, when the Lions had to lie to themselves on Sundays. The players would never admit it, but they were playing on a prayer almost every time they took the field. They had a lot of holes and little talent, and no margin for error. They played hard, but lacked purpose. On this Sunday, the Lions tore apart a lesser foe, deeper and more daring from the start. That's three wins in a row by at least two touchdowns, which only good teams do in the NFL.
"We definitely expect to dominate and win every game we play now, honestly. I can’t lie to you, it’s a lot different," said McNeill. "It feels really good."
In the locker room next door, Panthers receiver DJ Chark, who was with the Lions last season, talked fondly about his old team. He said "the first and foremost thing that you gotta say about them, they go hard to the whistle every play." That hasn't changed for this team in three years under Campbell. The difference now is a roster rife with playmakers, even when some of the top playmakers are missing.
"They’re really good with their assignments and their confidence, I think that’s the biggest thing from last year to this year," Chark said of the Lions' defense. "Results breed confidence, and they’ve been having good results. Their offense has been dialed-in for two years now, so it’s all coming together."
The Lions will have things to correct from Sunday, a good team striving to be great. They'll wish they sacked Young more than once, they'll be bothered that he threw two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and their receivers will lament a few dropped passes. If that feels like nitpicking, that's the point. It's not easy to find flaws in well-built teams.
As a dizzy group of fans poured into an elevator with a few reporters after the game, one of them noticed Dan Miller. “Heck of a call to game, huh!?” he shouted Miller's way. With a smile, the voice of the Lions turned and said, “Heck of a game to watch." The season is five games old, and just getting good.