Dan Campbell Faces Growing Pressure
The Lions are looking to move beyond the heartbreaking conclusion to last season, when they suffered a resounding defeat to the Washington Commanders in the divisional-round playoff game. Knox suggested that the team had plenty of doubters as the 2025 season began.
“It doesn’t take a lot of digging to find fans who believe head coach Dan Campbell is destined to fail this season,” Knox wrote. “With former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson coaching the Chicago Bears and former defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn coaching the Jets, there will certainly be an adjustment period.”
Knox said it was an overreaction to suggest that Campbell “can’t succeed” without the departed coordinators, but did acknowledge that the team would likely take a step back.
“An adjustment period was always inevitable, though, as seen with the 2022 Eagles after losing both coordinators,” Knox wrote. “Did John Morton call too conservative an offense? Maybe, but the Lions offensive line performed poorly, which limited his options. Did Kelvin Sheppard make some poor coverage choices? Sure, but it’s not like Detroit was playing a bottom-tier team.”
Knox added that it took both Johnson and Glenn some time to adjust to their roles with the Lions.
“One bad game against a talented rival on the road doesn’t mean Campbell can’t coach his team back into contention,” Knox wrote.
Lions Ready to Turn the Page
The Lions had one of the league’s most dynamic offenses but struggled against a Packers team infused by the late-offseason trade for Micah Parsons. The team had three drives reach the red zone but scored just six points before getting a garbage-time touchdown for rookie Isaas TeSlaa, ESPN noted.
Campbell said the performance was not indicative of the team’s ability.
“They came out and played outstanding, and we didn’t play good enough,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “We didn’t coach good enough, including me, and we didn’t play good enough. Like I told the team, it’s tough to go in and not certainly play close to your best game. You hate starting the season off with a loss, and as bad as that is, it’s not what it appears to be.”
The Packers are seen as a potential Super Bowl team this season, and Campbell said the game’s complexion could have looked very different if they had fixed their mistakes.
“We made some critical errors at the worst times possible,” Campbell said. “You take those out of the equation, and it looks different.”
