At 7-5 and currently 3rd place in the NFC North, the Lions are on the outside looking in as the playoffs near. Everyone is upset, some more than others. Everyone is confused and concerned, again, some more than others. Everyone has the same question….what is wrong with the Lions?

Here’s the straight answer—no fluff, no sugar-coating.

Detroit looks nothing like the swaggering, relentless, confident and cocky team that bullied its way through the conference last season. A year ago they were 6–0 in the division. Today they’re 1–3, getting pushed around by teams they used to punch in the mouth.

So what happened? It’s not as simple pointing to one thing. It’s a combination of issues that all point to the same truth: the Lions lost their edge (no pun intended)
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The identity isn’t showing up every Sunday. The Lions built their reputation on a simple formula:
Out-physical everyone. Win the line of scrimmage on both sides, break opponents mentally and limit their mistakes. This season, the Lions are getting bullied at the Line of Scrimmage on both sides, their opponents mental fortitude seems stronger than the Lions and the Lions are making tons of mistakes we haven’t seen them make in the past. I’m not talking just penalties during the play but mental mistakes as in lining up correctly or having the right assignment. Communication has been an issue all over the field and sideline.

That edge isn’t there this year, inside the lockerroom or on the field. Outside of Hutchinson who does everything he can to fight off 99.9% of opposing offenses attention, the pass rush isn’t where it should be. If it was, Alim McNeil wouldn’t be lining up on the outside as much as he’s been doing.

The run game feels inconsistent, relying on a plan we saw with another great running back in Barry Sanders…hand it off and see what happens.  At least,  from the outside it seems that way.

The offensive line—once the heartbeat of the team—hasn’t dominated the way it used to. And it was bound to happen with Ragnow retiring. The Lions tried Ratledge at center, and while he may eventually move there, it wasn’t the right move this season because he’s a rookie learning his way in the NFL. That’s not saying rookies can’t play center but usually a rookie playing center has significant time at that position in the past. So, moving Glasgow there (even though he said he hates it) was the logical choice. Also playing essentially another rookie in Mohagnay at the guard spot, there was bound to be speed bumps.

When Detroit can’t impose its will, everything else falls apart. The line will get a nice jolt when Frank Ragnow, who retired in June, returns to the lineup in the next week or so. But is it too late? Is it a bad sign that a retired center, is unretiring and will be starting in two weeks? The offense, despite hitting 20 or more points in 9 of their games still look out of sync. The offense is top 5 in scoring but is missing that magic. It missing that spark that made it dangerous. It hasn’t had the same they can score any time feel, instead it’s “man, I hope they can put a good drive together”. And that’s never a good thing.

Defense Is Bleeding at the Worst Times

This unit was supposed to take another step, but instead they’re giving up explosive plays at inopportune moments.

The pass rush doesn’t close games like it used to.

The secondary still feels like a weak spot opponents actively target. Kerby Joseph missing more games than they anticipated has definitely hurt the defense. Gone is the opponents fear of taking shots downfield. Brian Branch had been exposed in coverage, his fundamentals are off as he looks for the big hit that has hurt the Lions more than helped. He’s now a target for the refs with every play he’s involved in. Is he trying to do too much in Joseph’s absence?

The defense looked like a top unit for a few weeks but thays slowly faded away, and the weird part is all the starters are coming back, but when you’re constantly asking your offense to win shootouts, cracks start showing quickly.

The mistakes are back and it’s uncharacteristic of a Dan Campbell team. One that prided itself on attention to detail seems to be skipping over that attention to get out of their funk.

Last year, Detroit cleaned up the sloppy, self-destructive habits that haunted them for years.

This season?

Stalled drives from penalties, red-zone stumbles, turnovers in crucial moments (whether it be ints off tipped passes, fumbles on breakaway runs or horrible execution on 4th down calls) or missed assignments on defense.


Good teams don’t beat themselves and  lately, Detroit has been handing opponents the shovel. Now, we can’t take credit away from teams like Green Bay, who twice now have looked into the eyes of their opponent across from them in the ring and came out swining with no fear.

Simply put, opponents aren’t surprised by them anymore. Nothing backs that up then the failed surprise 4th down attempts. Philadelphia left their defense in the field during a 4th down punt, knowing full well the Lions were faking. They crashed the LOS almost immediately.

Last year, the Lions were the hungry upstart. This year, they’re the hunted and it looks like the Lions aren’t comfortable with that reality. The fed off of being the SOL team that couldn’t win vs jv teams. Now, teams are preparing for Detroit like they’re preparing for a playoff opponent.

Everyone has film on them. Everyone knows how Detroit wants to operate. And the Lions haven’t consistently shown the ability to adjust when Plan A stops working.

The pressure has shifted and this is the part no one wants to talk about:

Expectations changed everything.

Last year, Detroit played loose, balls to the wall, hair on fire, pedal to the metal. They had something to prove, nothing to lose. They made the NFC Championship game and almost won playing this way in a year no one thought they’d go that far. Last year they played the same way, but out of necessity due to having 87 players on IR and trotting out players with name tags every week.
This year, they’re playing tight. Playing to not lose, rather than to win. When you do that, mistakes linger. Drives feel tense. The sideline doesn’t have the same swagger, the same spark, the same “we dare you to stop us” attitude.

That edge is what made them dangerous. Without it, they look ordinary.

Bottom Line, the Lions aren’t bad—they’re underachieving.
They’re talented, capable, and well-coached, but something fundamental has slipped:

The mean streak. The physicality. The confidence. The identity. The anger of being doubted (like having a list of players who were drafted ahead of you, or slipping to the 2nd round and waiting till day two to leave the green room).

If they don’t get that fire back immediately, the playoffs and this season will be nothing more than a what if question and a wasted opportunity.

And that’s the truth of where Detroit stands.