The Green Bay Packers must have had their calendar circled when their season-opening matchup with the Detroit Lions was revealed in May because they played like a team out to prove a point in their 27-13 victory on Sunday afternoon.
Almost everything went the Packers' way until Isaac TeSlaa made a one-handed touchdown grab in the final minute of the game, and it was a dominating performance that showed Green Bay can be a factor in the NFC North.
When it comes to the opposite sideline, there’s a much different feeling. The Lions’ season didn’t end on Sunday afternoon, and they still will be in the hunt to contend in the NFC. But when head coach Dan Campbell took the podium after the loss, he sounded like someone who was in denial after his team was exposed in the season opener.
Lions HC Dan Campbell Thinks Season-Opening Loss to the Packers Was Closer Than It Was
According to Nolan Bianchi of The Detroit News, Campbell believed it was a mistake or two that made the difference in Sunday’s loss to the Packers. While that’s hard to believe considering the Lions were down by three scores most of the afternoon, Campbell’s comments seem even more delusional.
“Like I told the team, it’s tough to go in and not certainly play close to your best game,” Campbell said. “You hate starting the season out with a loss. As bad as it is, it’s not what it appears to be. We made some critical errors at the worst times possible.”
The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy added another layer of denial as Campbell thought the Lions would “be much cleaner than we were” and that he told the team “everything that showed up is correctable.”
Campbell may just be trying to run damage control after getting run off the field on Sunday afternoon, but many of the Lions' offseason issues bled into the season opener.
Detroit lost offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to the Chicago Bears this offseason, and the Lions responded with just 246 yards of total offense. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn left to become the head coach of the New York Jets, and while his replacement, Kelvin Sheppard, held Green Bay to 266 total yards, they also allowed 5.7 yards per play, which is the same number that was the sixth-highest rate in the NFL last season.
The Lions' offensive line also saw its concerns come to life, allowing four sacks, including one to the debuting Micah Parsons. While Detroit can say things are easily correctable, it’s also unlikely it’s as easy as bringing Johnson or Glenn back to the coaching staff or calling Frank Ragnow to see if he wants to come out of retirement.
But it is a long season and one that has the Packers with an early advantage after Sunday’s dominating performance.