Detroit Lions fans could only sit back and listen as league pundits overreacted to an admittedly disheartening Week 1 win. The Green Bay Packers dominated Detroit in the season opener, with the offense missing the expected explosive plays and looking far different from last year's unit. This was less than ideal for veteran coach and new offensive coordinator John Morton, who was already getting undue attention due to his attempts to replace Ben Johnson. The move was being judged and pointed to as a failure after one week.
Fast forward a few days, and there are a lot of takes about Morton aging extremely poorly. The OC was in his bag on Sunday, helping the Lions jump out to an early lead that Detroit would never relinquish. Putting up 28 in the first half and 52 in total, everything you wanted to see from the Lions' offense was present. Explosive plays, great quarterback play, trick plays, and a much-improved run game highlighted what was a dominating win over Ben Johnson's Chicago Bears.
Lions Offensive Coordinator John Morton Puts Together Breakout Performance in Week 2
Detroit is still among the league's elite, and this dominating offensive effort served as a reminder. The Lions were moving the ball at will, able to do anything they wanted in the air or ground attack. Every star player was involved, and Jared Goff again looked like one of the league's elite starters, finishing with 23/28, 334 yards, and five touchdowns. Pundits are now going to need to keep the same energy they had a week ago for the demise of the Lions.
A lot of this narrative was put at the feet of John Morton, indicating that the OC was unable to step up in the new role with Johnson's magic now gone. It seems fitting that Morton's breakout game was with Johnson standing on the opposite sideline. It was an obvious statement that even the most negative pundits can't ignore. Whether it was putting Amon-Ra St. Brown in the backfield or perfectly using Gibbs and Montgomery in the run game.
Morton and Dan Campbell both deserve immense credit for quickly pivoting and being able to correct the issues from a week ago. Many of the problems were simply due to the Lions needing more reps together and time to understand and work better with two new coordinators. Attempting to do so on the road in Green Bay is simply incredibly difficult, and the results speak for themselves.
However, the flip side of this is the message this game now sends to the Packers that Week 1 was simply a mirage and the perfect storm of the Lions being caught at the absolute perfect moment. Give the Lions credit for showing that there is no hangover from the loss of coordinators or the frustrating playoff loss. Morton's offense sent a message, one the league simply can't afford to ignore with Detroit announcing its return.