Lions Report 09/23/2025

Lions Report (Delayed Monday Night Edition): A late Monday night game plus an early day at work on Tuesday equals a late Lions Report. Better late than never.

Q: Who saw that coming? A: No one. What a fun game to watch and a good chunk of it was surprising.

If I told you one of the two starting quarterbacks would get sacked 7 times and the other none before the game, you would have thought the Lions are in trouble. Nope.

If I told you before the game that one team would have 224 yards rushing, and the other only 85 yards rushing, you probably would have thought the Lions offensive line was an issue. Nope.

If I told you before the game that Lamar Jackson would go 21 of 27 for 288 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a rating 148.1, you might have decided not to watch the game. Nope.

The Lions fired on all cylinders the entire night.

The aforementioned Lions offensive line didn’t allow a sack and were key on two, not one, drives of over 95 yards. They looked good last night.

Welcome back, a healthy Sam Laporta. He came up with what seemed like a dozen key third down conversions. I was surprised he only had 4 receptions in total. Each one was important.

John Morton called a really nice game. He never gave up on the run (he didn’t have to), which allowed for some trickeration attempts throughout the game. I loved the call of having Amon-Ra St. Brown lining up in the backfield and then pitching it out to Jahmyr Gibbs on that touchdown early in the 4th quarter. Clever. The defense had to pinch in just enough when Brown got the ball and it freed up Gibbs. My only complaint is that David Montgomery only had 12 carries. I’m not sure I like Gibbs getting as many rushing attempts inside the tackles.

Riverboat Dan is back and I have no complaints. I agreed with every one of his calls. He was there to win the game, and he didn’t want to give the ball back to Lamar Jackson late in the fourth quarter.

Jake Bates? How about your kicker making a clutch tackle to save a touchdown? Or making a legitimate attempt at what would have been a NFL record 67-yard field goal? Damn, I wanted him to hit that one. That would have been poetic justice after Justin Tucker set the record against the Lions in 2021.

Aiden Hutchinson didn’t do much in the first three quarters. Then, boom. He forced a fumble from Derrick Henry, then sacked Lamar Jackon

And Kelvin Sheppard? I was nervous when the Ravens marched down the field to score a touchdown on their first drive. After that, the Lions defense settled down. They kept Lamar Jackson contained for the most part and didn’t allow him to gash them for many long runs. Derrick Henry didn't do much after that first drive, other than losing a key fumble, and Sheppard’s scheme had a lot to do with it.

Tuesday morning was a happy one.

Forward down the field.