Becoming a top team in the National Football League, the Detroit Lions are currently first in the division, but they are still gaining momentum. It is not happening overnight. For the Lions, it took many seasons of adversity and losing to get to where they are now. Last year, the Lions shocked the NFL by going 15-2 and making a nice playoff run, but falling short of the Super Bowl, losing in the divisional round of the playoffs. Now, the city of Detroit and the Lions’ fanbase have high hopes for the 2025 season.
With Aaron Glenn—former defensive coordinator— becoming the head coach for the New York Jets, and Ben Johnson—former offensive coordinator—becoming the head coach of the Chicago Bears, the Lions were looking for two new coaches to fill their shoes. Therefore, the Lions hired John Morton as offensive coordinator and hired Kelvin Sheppard as defensive coordinator. Before taking the job as defensive coordinator, Sheppard was previously coaching the Lions’ linebackers.
In Week one, the Lions took a 13-27 loss to the Green Bay Packers. The Detroit Lions fanbase did not take this loss lightly, placing the blame on the new coaching staff and calling for the coaches to be fired after just one game.
In Week two, the Lions played the Chicago Bears in Detroit and bounced back with a big win, 52-21, showing that the Week one loss was just a fluke. This win really showed Dan Campbell’s offensive aggressiveness running up the score late in the game. Following their Week two win, the Lions charged through the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football with a whopping score of 38-30. Going into Week four, the Lions continued their winning streak, taking down the Cleveland Browns at home with a 34-10 win. The Lions are coming off a big win and have a lot of momentum heading into Week five.
Dan Campbell runs an adaptive offensive scheme. Therefore, the plays and offensive playcalling are slightly different every week. The main focus of the Lions’ offense is improving offensive line communication and red zone efficiency, utilizing the run game with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs and adapting to the strengths of a challenging 2025 schedule.
Dan Campbell himself played tight end for the Lions from 2006 to 2008. Campbell played in the NFL for a total of 11 seasons, and that is where he gets his fire, passion and competitive spirit from. Playing in the NFL also gives Dan Campbell an advantage over other coaches who don’t have in-game player experience. Dan Campbell often shows trust in his offense—not only in the players but also in the coordinators and position coaches—by consistently going for first downs on fourth down in efforts to extend drives.
