![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1852923009.jpg?quality=65&strip=all\")
<\/p>\nAfter a slow start in a Week 1 loss to the Packers, the Lions laid 52 points on the Bears in a blowout win, then authored a statement win Monday night in Baltimore, 38-30.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do what we do here,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cWe have an identity, we have a culture, and nothing\u2019s going to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The offense isn\u2019t quite the same apples-to-apples scheme under new offensive coordinator John Morton<\/b>, but the Lions still look like a juggernaut.<\/p>\n
They are averaging 34.3 points per game, second-most in the NFL entering Week 4. In Monday\u2019s win over the Ravens, the Lions had touchdown drives of 96 and 98 yards, and scored 24 points over five possessions in the second half.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are running some different schemes, slightly,\u201d quarterback Jared Goff<\/b> said. \u201cBeing able to tweak it slightly and still be successful with it on offense is awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lions are still one of the most multiple offenses in the NFL. Against the Bears, Goff threw for 334 yards and five touchdowns. Against the Ravens, Goff only threw for 202 yards, but the Lions rushed for 224 and four touchdowns.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told the team I want to find out how many different ways we can win games,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cThat took everything we had, and I was proud of the players.\u201d<\/p>\n
And losing Johnson hasn\u2019t sapped the Lions of their creativity. Monday night they ran the \u201cMaryland I-formation,\u201d a formation popularized by the Maryland Terrapins in the 1950s in which three running backs line up directly behind the quarterback. And the go-ahead touchdown on fourth and 1 came on an option pitch to Jahmyr Gibbs<\/b>.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been practicing that play for three years,\u201d Gibbs said. \u201cWe installed that my rookie year, and this was the first time we ran it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lions\u2019 defense under new defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard<\/b> also is thriving. It forced two turnovers and compiled four sacks in a 31-point win over the Bears, then against the Ravens forced a late Derrick Henry<\/b> fumble and sacked Lamar Jackson<\/b> seven times, tied for the most in Jackson\u2019s career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought Shep did a hell of a job in preparation and the calling of the game,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re all figuring each other out now in those roles. I know them very well, but it\u2019s now about Shep in the DC role, Johnny in the OC role with me as the head coach. And we\u2019re getting more and more comfortable every week.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Lions](\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Lions-news-Dan-Campbell-drops-bottom-line-on-facing-Ben-Johnson-Bears-in-Week-2.jpg?resize=1200,900\")
<\/p>\n
Crucially, the Lions are still the most aggressive team in the NFL without Johnson. Their eight attempts on fourth down are tied for the league lead, and they have converted seven. They went 3 for 3 against the Ravens, and scored touchdowns on all three drives.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got a tremendous amount of trust in those guys that\u2019s been built up now in five years, right?\u201d Campbell said. \u201cThey\u2019ve earned that trust, you know? Once again, they step up and make huge plays at critical times.\u201d<\/p>\n
And they are the same Lions that want to \u201ckick you in the teeth\u201d and \u201cbite a kneecap off,\u201d as Campbell famously said at his introductory press conference in 2021. In Monday\u2019s win, linebacker Jack Campbell<\/b> was bleeding in the huddle because of a laceration on his mouth.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s at the end of the game trying to call plays and blood\u2019s spitting out everywhere, and so they were just eating it up. He\u2019s a stud, man,\u201d Campbell said.<\/p>\n
The Lions are 41-29-1 in Campbell\u2019s five years as head coach, including 29-8 since the start of 2023. A franchise that won just one playoff game between 1958 and 2022 made the NFC Championship game in 2023 and went 15-2 with the No. 1 seed in 2024.<\/p>\n
Last year ended in disappointment, with the Lions losing at home to the Commanders in the divisional playoffs. The defense had been decimated by injuries, and the Lions were helpless to stop Jayden Daniels<\/b> in a 45-31 loss.<\/p>\n
The Lions lost two pillars of their program when Johnson and Glenn left for promotions, and they took several assistant coaches with them. But with Campbell still in charge, they aren\u2019t missing a beat in 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe walks it every day,\u201d running back David Montgomery<\/b> said. \u201cHe holds everyone accountable, and he holds himself accountable the most. When you get led by something like that, it\u2019s easy for you to follow. And you\u2019ve got a team full of guys like that. We\u2019ve got something special here.\u201d<\/p>\n It has taken just three weeks for three franchises to come to a crossroads at quarterback.<\/p>\n The 1-2 Falcons want to support second-year quarterback Michael Penix<\/b> and justify their decision to draft him No. 8 overall last year, but his play has been dreadful. Penix is completing just 58.6 percent of his passes with one touchdown and two interceptions, while the Falcons are 31st in points scored (14 per game) and just 2 of 7 in the red zone. It culminated last Sunday in an ugly 30-0 loss to Carolina that is the only shutout of this NFL season.<\/p>\n Plus, Kirk Cousins<\/b> is sitting right there on the bench. According to the Netflix series \u201cQuarterback,\u201d Cousins only struggled last year because of injuries, and now, presumably, he is healthy.<\/p>\n The Falcons likely don\u2019t want to yo-yo Penix in and out of the lineup, but coach Raheem Morris<\/b> may have to switch to Cousins soon. Jobs may be on the line this year if the Falcons don\u2019t make the playoffs.<\/p>\n \u201cMike\u2019s our quarterback,\u201d Morris said last week. \u201cMike is the guy until I let you guys know otherwise, but Mike\u2019s our guy.\u201d<\/p>\n The Bengals also have a big decision to make. They are 2-1 and could still be competitive even with Joe Burrow<\/b> out for the season. But Jake Browning<\/b> has been brutal in his 1\u00bd games, throwing five interceptions in 59 attempts and getting blown out by the Vikings last week, 48-10.<\/p>\n Coach Zac Taylor<\/b> defended Browning by saying after the loss that \u201cnobody was good.\u201d But with Russell Wilson<\/b> now on the Giants\u2019 bench (costing just $1.6 million the rest of the season), and Derek Carr<\/b> still training while he\u2019s just sitting out there in retirement, the Bengals need to consider if sticking with Browning is just flushing the season away.<\/p>\n Then there are the Vikings, who are 2-1 and coming off a 38-point win. They have a top-five defense and a talented offense, yet a major question in quarterback J.J. McCarthy<\/b>, who was awful in seven of his eight quarters to start the season.<\/p>\n The Vikings are now taking their sweet time getting McCarthy back into the huddle with a minor knee injury, with Carson Wentz<\/b>, who won last week\u2019s blowout, likely to start the upcoming games in Ireland and London. When asked if the Vikings are 100 percent committed to McCarthy, coach Kevin O\u2019Connell<\/b> talked around the question. O\u2019Connell said the Vikings don\u2019t want McCarthy to return until he gets in a full week of practice. It might be their way of buying time to figure out if McCarthy should be the guy for the rest of the season. Wentz likely isn\u2019t the answer, either, but Cousins potentially could be.<\/p>\n 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh<\/b> may have revealed Thursday why Sean McVay<\/b> and Kevin O\u2019Connell<\/b> are such effective offensive coaches \u2014 they\u2019re the best sign stealers.<\/p>\n The 49ers host the Jaguars, whose offensive coordinator (Grant Undinski) came from Minnesota under O\u2019Connell, on Sunday. Saleh emphasized that those coaches are stealing signs legally, but they\u2019re doing it nonetheless.<\/p>\n \u201cLiam (Coen) and his staff, a couple guys coming from Minnesota, they\u2019ve got, legally, a really advanced signal stealing type system where they always find a way to put themselves in an advantageous situation,\u201d Saleh said Thursday. \u201cThey\u2019re almost elite in that regard. That whole entire tree from [McVay, the Rams\u2019 coach] to Kevin O\u2019Connell to all those guys, they all do it. So, there\u2019s challenges. They\u2019re going to catch us in some situations where they have the advantage and we\u2019ve just got to play good, sound, fundamental football and do our best to out-execute them.\u201d<\/p>\n As we all learned in Spygate nearly 20 years ago, stealing signs is OK in the NFL as long as it\u2019s done from the right part of the stadium.<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever nugget they can find, they catch it,\u201d Saleh said of those coaches. \u201cWe dealt with it in Minnesota last year. They got us into a couple of situations. You can see it on tape when they\u2019re studying. It\u2019s like, \u2018How\u2019d they know to be in that call at that time?\u2019 We\u2019ve experienced it with the Rams a little bit. It\u2019s not an uncommon thing. This group of people, they\u2019re pretty good at it.\u201d<\/p>\n This might have been a bit of gamesmanship from Saleh, trying to get inside the head of not only the Jaguars, but the division-rival Rams and any other coach from McVay\u2019s tree. McVay and O\u2019Connell, though, can\u2019t be thrilled that they are now known as \u201celite\u201d sign stealers.<\/p>\n A few nuggets ahead of today\u2019s Patriots-Panthers game:<\/p>\n \u25aa Per NFL Next Gen Stats, the Patriots have the third-most missed tackles in the NFL (35) and third-highest missed tackle rate (17.8 percent). Last week against the Steelers it was 14 and 23.3 percent, the Patriots\u2019 highest single-game rate since a Week 2 loss to the Jaguars in 2018.<\/p>\n \u25aa The Panthers are a majority Cover 3 defense, and the Patriots\u2019 Drake Maye<\/b> leads all NFL quarterbacks with 358 passing yards against Cover 3 this year.<\/p>\n \u25aa When asked for his impression of the Patriots under Mike Vrabel<\/b>, Panthers coach Dave Canales<\/b> highlighted the simplicity on both sides of the ball.<\/p>\n \u201cJust watching his teams \u2014 Tennessee over the years and then as a coordinator in Houston \u2014 I think the signature is they don\u2019t do a lot, but what they do, they do really well,\u201d Canales said. \u201cIf he can get his guys in position where they know what to do, then they can fly around and play physical and make plays. That certainly is happening. What I see on film, that is happening for that group on both sides, where they\u2019re not trying to reinvent the wheel. They have some wrinkles, but it\u2019s pretty good just clean football and guys playing hard.\u201d<\/p>\n \u25aa Canales, a long-time disciple of Pete Carroll, got a game ball from his players last week after the Panthers\u2019 first win of the season, but he doesn\u2019t give out game balls to his players.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not really something that I\u2019ve been around very much,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen we have success after games and wins, if I had 12 game balls, I\u2019d give them all out. We just like to rattle off the guys that made significant impacts on the games one by one and make sure they\u2019re recognized in front of their teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n It took all of three weeks for scapegoat season to hit the NFL. The Falcons got shut out by the Panthers, are struggling to score points, so they fired \u2026 wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard<\/b>?<\/p>\n \u201cPerformance-based, just like everything in this business,\u201d coach Raheem Morris said.<\/p>\n The Falcons are also moving offensive coordinator Zac Robinson<\/b> from the booth to the field.<\/p>\n The 0-3 Texans released safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson<\/b> after he started three games and played 96 percent of snaps, and they didn\u2019t try to trade him.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was my decision to move on,\u201d coach DeMeco Ryans<\/b> said. \u201cI know what\u2019s best for my team.\u201d<\/p>\n And Titans coach Brian Callahan<\/b>, hired in 2024 because he was supposed to be an offensive guru who helped develop Joe Burrow<\/b>, sacked himself. Callahan, 0-3 this year and 3-17 overall, handed play-calling duties to QB coach Bo Hardegree<\/b>, skipping over offensive coordinator Nick Holz<\/b>. The Titans fired Mike Vrabel for this?<\/p>\n Lamar Jackson is 1-5 career against the Chiefs and 0-3 at Arrowhead Stadium, but the Ravens are still 2\u00bd-point favorites for Sunday\u2019s showdown in Kansas City. This marks the second straight home game that the 1-2 Chiefs are underdogs, after they were 1-point dogs to the Eagles two weeks ago. The Chiefs had been a home underdog only other time with Patrick Mahomes<\/b>, against the Bills in 2022. The other three instances in the Mahomes era came with Matt Moore<\/b> and Chad Henne<\/b> filling in \u2026 The Vikings play the Steelers Sunday in Dublin and the Browns next week in London, becoming the first team to play international games in consecutive weeks in different cities. \u201cIt\u2019s basically like we\u2019re on tour, and we\u2019ve got two stages,\u201d the Vikings\u2019 director of equipment services told The Athletic \u2026 After Thursday\u2019s win over the Cardinals, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald is 9-1 on the road in his two seasons \u2026 Per the NFL, Vikings cornerback Isaiah Rodgers<\/b> became the first former UMass Minuteman to win a Player of the Week award. Rodgers won the NFC defensive award for his 87-yard pick-6 and 65-yard fumble return touchdown in a win over the Bengals \u2026 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk<\/b> is \u201cnot close\u201d to returning from last year\u2019s significant knee injury, 49ers general manager John Lynch<\/b> said. It\u2019s almost certainly why the 49ers couldn\u2019t trade Aiyuk in the offseason, and now they\u2019re stuck paying him $25 million this year \u2026 The Patriots\u2019 Rhamondre Stevenson<\/b> isn\u2019t the only running back with a fumbling problem. The Ravens\u2019 Derrick Henry<\/b> has had one in all three games, losing two. He had three all of last year and none in 2023. \u201cIt\u2019s testing my faith right now,\u201d Henry said \u2026 Former Bears cornerback Charles Tillman<\/b> became an FBI agent in its Chicago office in 2018, two years after retiring from the NFL, but said last week on \u201cThe Pivot\u201d podcast that he recently resigned due to disagreements with the immigration policies being pushed by the federal government. \u201cI want to be on the right side of history when it\u2019s all said and done,\u201d Tillman said. \u201cSome of the stuff you guys are doing now, I don\u2019t necessarily agree with.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Detroit arrived at Week 4 with a 2-1 record, with point totals of 52 and 38 in the victories. \u201cWe do what we do here,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cWe have an identity, we have a culture, and nothing\u2019s going to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-detroit-lions"],"yoast_head":"\n\n![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/bostonglobe-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/QJQOYWI5IIBIQI5F23IZTJKNDI.jpg?auth=ea7321da3417937954aa6f2aa23539451fb6789a1dcbe1e06ba19ab0055c636a&width=1440\")
Quarterback crossroads<\/h5>\n
\nChanges under center already in air<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/bostonglobe-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/ZFC6JD5N6IRP3KGNOEWJ6ZLQWU.jpg?auth=c637c07ef358502c51070367de3fb85928f745ce208a865216d5ce564ea1bd76&width=1440\")
Sign stealing<\/h5>\n
\nIt\u2019s legal, but some coaches taking advantage<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/bostonglobe-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/LVCTNNMYCIQIMA4KMMARALSXUA.jpg?auth=f9ac6209194794629a7b314a04f92bf2e55c5b65741aec09fae1c54ff614b47c&width=1440\")
Patriots-Panthers notes<\/h5>\n
\nWhat to watch for in Foxborough<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
Scapegoat season<\/h5>\n
\nSomeone has to pay price for failures<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n