I chugged the Honolulu blue Kool-Aid like I never had before during the offseason and when it came down to making my final game-by-game predictions, not only did I have the Detroit Lions finishing with a 10-7 record, but I also had them earning a wild card spot in the 2022 NFL Playoffs.
Well, Week 1 is in the books and after jumping out to a 7-0 lead, the Lions got down big to the Philadelphia Eagles before eventually losing 38-35 in front of a fired-up crowd at Ford Field.
Here are my 3 quick takeaways from the Detroit Lions Week 1 loss to the Eagles (I will try to stay positive as much as possible).
D’Andre Swift is on a freaking mission
Prior to the start of the season, D’Andre Swift stated that his individual goal was to rush for 1,000 yards while also racking up 1,000 yards receiving. If Week 1 is any indication, Swift is in store for a very big year as he rushed for a career-high 144 yards on just 15 carries (he also scored a touchdown) while also catching three passes for 31 yards. Swift looked like a different running back than he has in the past as he was not afraid to run between the tackles, and he initiated contact when need be rather than trying to bounce everything outside.
Aidan Hutchinson may act like a veteran, but sometimes he will play like a rookie.
Aidan Hutchinson may be the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, and he may have looked very good during training camp and the preseason games, but we learned on Sunday that he has a long way to go before he is playing at a Pro-Bowl level.
During his first game as a professional, Hutchinson had just one tackle, and he did not have a single quarterback hit against the Eagles. I am very interested to see how he fares when Pro Football Focus releases their weekly grades.
Jekyll and Hyde Jared Goff will not be enough to win
Jared Goff was pretty bad during the first half, and despite D’Andre Swift running the ball well, the offense struggled. When Goff heated up in the second half, it looked like a much more formidable offense and they racked up some points.
That being said, if the Lions are going to win a lot of football games in 2022, we are going to have to see much more of the second-half Jared Goff rather than the first-half Jared Goff.
Nation, what are your biggest takeaways from the Detroit Lions loss to the Philadelphia Eagles?
Why aren’t you calling out Aaron Glenn?? His inability to have a spy on Hurts was absolutely the biggest fail of the week.
Totally agree. I was watching the game and was wondering, why isn’t anyone shadowing Hurts? Stop him and you stop their offense. Our offense can’t win games alone. After watching the Packers/Vikings game, there isn’t much to beat in our division. If the defense plays well, we could take it. Unfortunately, this team is still the Lions. I don’t expect anything different no matter who the GM is, the coaches, or players.
Goff looked like the Goff of last year with a dink and dunk approach in the first half. He looked like he was afraid he might get hit so he has to throw 2 yards and get out of the way. In the second half he looked much more aggressive, stepped into his throws and the results were much better. I thought the play calling was too conservative much of the game, with 2 runs and a pass the typical pattern. Throw on first down now and then for pete’s sake. Also get into hurry up mode faster. We left ourselves with virtually no time on the clock at the end of the game if Philly got even one first down (which they did). Goff is not good enough to get down the field reliably with 1 or 2 minutes worth of time.