Lions Report 12/20/2025

Lions Report (Cornucopia Edition): What’s a cornucopia edition? Hell, I don’t know. Call it a catch up/preview/stream of consciousness edition. Have I been lax in posting the last few weeks? Yep. I’ll try to make it up with a special double posting today.

First, let’s look back at last week’s game against the Rams. I’ll start off with SoFi Stadium. I’ve been wanting to go visit it since it opened. It did not disappoint. That is the most impressive stadium I’ve visited, both from the outside and inside. The stadium is massive. It looks like one of the alien ships from Independence Day. You can see how big it is from a few miles away. The interior is equally impressive, with the double-sided scoreboard grabbing your attention as you walk in. If you want a cool road trip, I’d recommend hitting SoFi. It was worth the trip.

As far as the game last week, the Lions lost and that wasn’t a surprise. They kept it close but a very questionable second half sealed their fate. It felt like the NFC Championship game nearly two years ago. (Yes, I was there for that one too. Make your comments below.) Up by 17 in the first half, only to let the game slip away in the second half. In the end, it was the banged up Lions defense that couldn’t hold up. Again, that wasn’t a surprise. What did disappoint me was Dan Campbell, the offensive coordinator. The Lions had a lot of success in the first half with intermediate passes and crossing routes. Then, in the second half, Dan decided to play more smash mouth football. Why? Keep going with what’s working. The Lions first three series in the second half were three and outs. Once LA established a rhythm, and the Lions couldn’t sustain a drive, the game was basically over.

So here’s my frustration with Dan Campbell, the coach. In his first year, he hired Anthony Lynn as his offensive coordinator. Dan Campbell took over the play calling duties in the middle of that season. Sound familiar? With Campbell taking over for John Morton this season, Dan is one for three on hiring offensive coordinators. That’s on him. He’s making the hires as the head coach. If you hire someone and you’re basically firing them halfway into their first season, what does that say about your evaluation skills? Yes, he hit a home run with Ben Johnson. However, I’m going to be very interested to see what he does this off season and how it works out.

Let’s discuss the Frank Ragnow “comeback”. I hit the hookah on that one. Damn, that was frustrating. Why did the Lions make the announcement before they had him take the physical? The press may have gotten wind of it anyway, but why make a press release about it? That whole thing felt amateurish.

So, the Lions play the Steelers tomorrow. Am I going? No. I do not like 4:25 pm games and I’m still cranky from last week’s loss. Do I think the Lions will win? They should. The Pittsburgh rushing defense isn’t very good. I’m hoping we get a heavy dose of both Jamyhr Gibbs AND David Montgomery. Soften them up, hit some crossing routes, and then see if you can get Jameson Williams to hit on some home run passes. DK Metcalf scares me though. That dude is a monster and I don’t know how we’re going to cover him.

It’d be nice if the Lions have something to play for on Christmas Day.