Monday, November 3, 2025

Lions Links for Monday 11-3-25

Articles:

KEY QUESTIONS: Will Lions be active as trade deadline approaches?:  https://www.detroitlions.com/news/key-questions-will-lions-be-active-as-trade-deadline-approaches

TWENTYMAN: Week 9 observations:  https://www.detroitlions.com/news/detroit-lions-week-9-observations-laporta-campbell-williams







John Morton Raises Fear Lions' Offense Too Overwhelming to Operate:  https://www.si.com/nfl/lions/onsi/news/john-morton-raises-fear-lions-offense-too-overwhelming-to-operate




The Detroit Lions are lost without an offensive line to match their identity:  https://www.prideofdetroit.com/detroit-lions-opinion/147445/detroit-lions-lost-without-offensive-line-identity







Four Super Bowl favorites fall in Week 9: What went wrong for the Chiefs, Colts, Packers and Lions? (Detroit Lions - Week 9 result: Lost 27-24 to the Minnesota Vikings.  Chances to win the Super Bowl before Week 9: 8.7%.  Chances to win the Super Bowl after Week 9: 5.4%.  Detroit's hold over the rest of the NFC North is getting shakier. After going 5-1 against the Packers and Vikings over the past two years, the Lions have now lost their opening games against both of their divisional brethren in 2025. And while this game was closer than that blowout loss to the Packers in Week 1, the story of how the Vikings slowed down the Lions and their high-powered offense was similar.  To stop the Lions, start with run defense. The Vikings invested heavily in the interior of their defensive line this offseason, signing Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave to big deals, and I have to imagine that beating the Lions was one of the goals they had when making those decisions. Hargrave had his best game of the season Sunday, racking up a sack and two tackles for loss, including one where he squeezed through a double-team and snatched Jahmyr Gibbs down for a 2-yard loss.  Gibbs and David Montgomery combined for only 65 yards on 20 carries against the Vikings, with just 25% of their carries producing successful runs by the NFL Next Gen Stats model. There wasn't much to be gained -- the two backs finished with only minus-5 RYOE, suggesting they basically got what was available. But their longest run of the day was also just 11 yards, and that ended with Montgomery fumbling the ball away to the Vikings.  Hargrave was excellent, but it was a team effort. Minnesota's cornerbacks -- including Fabian Moreau, who had played just three snaps before Sunday -- did a good job holding up against blocks and forcing those potentially devastating outside runs by Gibbs and Montgomery back inside. The outside linebackers, including the returning Andrew Van Ginkel, didn't get shoved backward to create soft edges very often. Jalen Redmond played a season-high 92% of the defensive snaps as part of bigger Vikings defensive fronts.  The average Lions run came with just 2.1 yards before first contact. The only game where they've had less space to work with, unsurprisingly, was that Week 1 matchup against the Packers.  Taking the run out of the equation forces Jared Goff into the dropback pass game, and like Daniel Jones, that's not where he wants to live. In the past, the Lions have been able to pick apart the Vikings and their exotic blitz looks by getting the ball out to their dynamic playmakers and using motion to create conflict. Last season, with the Vikings tormenting teams by loading up the line with pass rushers and either sending the house or playing safe two-deep coverage behind, Detroit went back to the days of the mid-aughts Patriots in pulling out a protection using its wide receivers in motion to protect Goff and create big-play opportunities downfield.  You can imagine Flores spending weeks this offseason building pressures to attack the interior of the Lions' O-line, especially after Detroit lost Frank Ragnow to retirement. Whether it was an offseason project, a few extra days of prep after the Vikings played on Thursday night last week or the return of a key player in Van Ginkel, Flores' defense was back on its 2024 level. It sacked Goff five times, and four of those sacks came from initial pressure through the middle on twists or cross-dog rushes.  Minnesota's linebackers, led by Eric Wilson, ran at and through Gibbs, who spent most of his day in pass protection, for a handful of pressures. And when the Lions tried to run screens and quick-game concepts to get the ball out before those looks could get home, the Vikings generally did an excellent job of tackling. Minnesota hit Goff 11 times and had a whopping 10 tackles for loss. Across his two games against the Vikings last season, Goff went 29-of-35 for 298 yards, 2 touchdown passes and 2 picks against the blitz, taking just one sack. On Sunday, he was 7-of-12 for 61 yards and a sack in those same spots.  The quarterback on the other side of the field also had something to prove. Few quarterbacks have inspired stronger opinions in shorter periods of time than J.J. McCarthy, who was making his third career start after dealing with a torn meniscus in 2024 and a high ankle sprain in 2025. The optimistic side noted that McCarthy had won NFC Player of the Week in his debut win over the Bears and battled the ankle injury and the exhaustion of being a new parent in Week 2. The pessimistic side pointed out that McCarthy had been a replacement-level QB in seven of his first eight quarters as a pro.  I'm not sure how one can draw any meaningful conclusions on a quarterback after two pro starts, but the talk that the Vikings were going to realistically consider benching their 2024 first-round pick after two games for Carson Wentz was always absurd, even before Wentz went down with a season-ending shoulder injury.  Making that much-anticipated third start, McCarthy gave both sides of the argument some more material. He put together an underwhelming stat line, going 14-of-25 for 143 yards, with two passing touchdowns, an interception and five sacks. He was pressured on more than 58% of dropbacks, occasionally because of his own predilection for moving outside of the pocket. That would be fine if it worked, but McCarthy went 1-of-7 for 7 yards on throws outside of the pocket.  Yet at the same time, McCarthy made some unquestionably impactful plays. On the opening drive, he read blitz and got the ball out quickly to Aaron Jones Sr. on a screen to convert a third-and-9 for a first down, then hit Justin Jefferson with a fade that only the star receiver could catch for a 10-yard score. McCarthy found Jordan Addison downfield on third-and-9 on the next drive for 31 yards before tossing a 7-yard score to T.J. Hockenson on a boot concept in the red zone. With Jefferson briefly injured in the third quarter, McCarthy ran away from pressure, juked out Alex Anzalone and scrambled to the end zone for a 9-yard score.  Want to anoint McCarthy as the next sensational young quarterback? He led three touchdown drives on the road against one of the best teams in football and then hit Jalen Nailor on a back-shoulder throw on third-and-9 to seal the victory. Want to be skeptical? The Vikings converted three short fields off a long kickoff return, a fumble recovery and a blocked field goal (and subsequent return) into 17 of their 27 points. They had just one drive rack up more than 36 yards all game and were 15th out of 26 teams in EPA per play on the offensive side of the ball. I'd like to see more games before I actually form any sort of meaningful opinion about McCarthy, but if you want to have a strong stance after three games, Sunday gave you something to chew on, regardless of which side you take.  The Lions have more pressing concerns. Some things did go their way Sunday. The Packers weren't able to stretch their lead in the NFC North, and the Commanders, whom the Lions travel to face next week, won't have Jayden Daniels after the second-year quarterback suffered a gruesome elbow injury in their blowout loss to the Seahawks. First, though, GM Brad Holmes has to face the trade deadline and decide how aggressively he wants to add to this Lions team as it tries to get over the hump in the NFC.):  https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/46819448/2025-nfl-week-9-barnwell-super-bowl-favorites-loss-chiefs-colts-packers-lions

NFL midseason crystal ball: 10 people who will shape the 2025 season's second half (2.  Aidan Hutchinson:  The Detroit Lions won the NFC North and the top seed in the conference playoffs last season with Hutchinson only available for five games after he sustained a broken leg. They have needed him even more this season given how much injuries have hurt this team this year, especially in the defensive backfield. Hutchinson’s ability to wreck games means even more when thinking about how Detroit’s normally prolific offense has been neutralized lately. The Lions have gone from averaging 40 points per game over a four-game stretch earlier this season to scoring a total of 65 points over their last three games, two of which have been losses (including a 27-24 defeat to Minnesota). It’s starting to feel like the Lions aren’t going to bully their way to another division title simply by boat-racing opponents. They need that defense to do its part and that means Hutchinson – who picked up his seventh sack of the season on Sunday – has to start doing Defensive-Player-of-the-Year things.):  https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-midseason-crystal-ball-10-people-who-will-shape-the-2025-season-s-second-half

Buy, sell or hold? What every NFL team should do (Holders - Detroit could maybe look to add in the secondary, but this is already one of the more talented rosters in the NFL. They could simply stand off to the side unless something painfully obvious is put in front of them.):  https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-trade-deadline-2025-buy-sell-hold-teams/

NFC North Is Wide Open After Packers, Lions Show Key Weaknesses:  https://www.si.com/nfl/nfc-north-wide-open-packers-lions-show-key-weaknesses

NFL trade deadline: Who's buying? Who's selling? Who's doing nothing? A look at all 32 teams (Detroit Lions - Key need: Interior offensive line.  As detailed by Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson, the Lions have a number of big contracts coming up to retain their core talent, even after all the spending they've already done. But head coach Dan Campbell and GM Brad Holmes are always looking at ways to get closer to the franchise's first Super Bowl, and help on the interior offensive line could be a cost-effective move that puts them over the top.  Early salary cap space projection: $12.28 million):  https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/nfl-trade-deadline-whos-buying-whos-selling-whos-doing-nothing-a-look-at-all-32-teams-192559929.html



Video:


Jared Goff on Disappointing Loss, Looking Ahead to Commanders:  https://www.fox2detroit.com/video/1734535



Posted by LionsFan at 5:10 PM

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