The Detroit Lions miss Ben Johnson then they ever thought they could have after dropping Week 1 to the Green Bay Packers. Johnson engineered an offense that look seamless, was flashy and perfectly fit the Lions skill players and strengths. In the first game since he departed Detroit for his first head coaching job in Chicago, the Lions realized just how important he was to their offensive success.
Save for a late touchdown in garbage time, the Lions were held to just six points for most of the game. This is a team that has a new offensive identity and now they have to figure out how to do that without their offensive mastermind. Whatever happens with Johnson and the Bears, the Lions are going to miss Johnson a whole lot and they’re in for a long season.
Detroit Lions new offensive identity highlights biggest weakness in first game without Ben Johnson
Whew, where to begin with the Lions’ struggles against the Packers. Jared Goff looked like the Los Angeles Rams version of Goff who gave up on him for Matthew Stafford and ultimately a Super Bowl win. Goff finished with 225 passing yards and a touchdown and interception in the game. It wasn’t just the turnover or the four times he was sacked.
It was the fact that this offense just didn’t have the same feel it did a year ago. The only difference is Johnson is no longer on the staff. But as far as production, there shouldn’t have been this big of a drop-off. Jahmyr Gibbs was high-usage, catching 10 passes out of the backfield and 50 total yards.
Sam LaPorta was the team's leading receiver with 79 yards and Issac TeSlaa had the lone touchdown. These Lions aren’t the same, and John Morton is realizing just how difficult his job will be this year as he’s tasked with rejuvenating this offense after a miserable Week 1 showing.
Ben Johnson was able to get the most out of Jared Goff, will John Morton be able to?
Goff regressed in his Week 1 performance against the Green Bay Packers from what he’s looked like the last two seasons. Morton will have to figure out how to elevate Goff the same way. It starts with trying to figure out what can work with this new team. There were some good moments in the game for Goff and the offense.
At times, they were able to string together some good plays and decent passes, they just stalled out. Goff made a mistake on the interception, but it was less about things not working and the offense just not in sync like it had looked the last couple of seasons. Can they get back there without Johnson — I don’t know. But I do know they can’t get away with their Week 1 performance again this week.
John Morton will have to prove Week 1 was an outlier, not the start of a pattern
This offense has the weapons to still contend for the top spot in the NFC North. It won’t be an easy division and with the addition of Micah Parsons to the Packers, it’s clear this division won’t be easy for offenses to thrive in. That said, Morton has to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it.
Detroit is in the middle of their championship window, they can’t afford to squander that. They have a great starting spot on how to turn things around. Take the good from the Packers game and turn it into consistency. Take the bad from this game and figure out how to avoid turning it into a pattern. Not all is lost for these Lions just yet. But Morton’s margin for error is slim, and refusing to fix the consistency issue is only going to exacerbate the Lions’ struggles.