Lions Report 09/14/2025

Lions Report: My tummy feels better.

This game against the Bears was one they had to win, should have won and did win. It’s amazing how a work week starts out better after a Lions win.

I said last week that John Morton was going to be under the microscope this week. How did his offense perform? Pretty damn good. Take your pick. Number of points scored? 52. Total offensive yards? Over 500. Number of turnovers? Zero. Jared Goff’s passer rating? 156 on 23 of 28 passing attempts, with no interceptions and five touchdowns. Rushing attack? 177 yards with a 5.9 average per carry, after averaging 2.1 yards against the Packers last week.

OK, let’s face it. Chicago is nowhere near as good as Green Bay, and the Lions were terrible last week. Some of that obviously has to do with the opponents. However, there were clear signs of improvement. Morton did a nice job of mixing his play calls up. He used crossing routes early on in the game, and there were heavy doses of Jahmyr Gibbs in the rushing and passing attack early on as well. That set up some long balls later in the game, where Goff made some nice completions. I wasn’t a fan of the Jameson Williams contract extension he signed last week. However, I may be eating my words. Speed kills.

The offensive line looked better as well. They didn’t give up a sack. Although the Bears defense is nowhere close to the Packers defense. It doesn’t matter. The Lions offense played well against a defense they should have beaten. And they did.

The Lions defense still appears to be a work in progress. Yes, they had 4 sacks. But a number of those came later in the game when the Bears were significantly behind. The Lions were able to pin their ears back and just try to get to Caleb Williams. Earlier in the game was a different story. The Lions nearly got to Williams on multiple occasions but let him escape a number of times. That was disappointing. The Lions defensive line did come up big in the 2nd quarter when they stuffed consecutive 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1 rushing attempts. That was impressive. I also noticed that their tackling was much better this game. That was good to see.

Am I a Caleb Williams fan? Nope. Yep, he’s mobile, and Ben Johnson drew up some plays to take advantage of that mobility. He also escaped some sack attempts early in the game. Otherwise, he’s not a very accurate passer, and he missed some wide-open receivers. That interception he threw in the second quarter was terrible. He should have just thrown the ball out of bounds. Thanks, Caleb. Much appreciated. Ben Johnson has some work to do with this kid.

Amon-Ra St. Brown? Stud. And an ultimate pro.

Isaac TeSalaa? Ho hum. Just another spectacular one-handed grab to set up a touchdown to end the first half. My daughter, Jordan Carney, who plans on marrying him, missed that catch when she went to the bathroom at Ford Field. I’m going to tell him about that at their engagement party.

Next week, the Lions are at the Ravens on Monday night. Which Lions team is going to show up? Hopefully, the one we saw today