After watching the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers make the playoffs, the Detroit Lions were immediately put under the microscope regarding what moves they would make to upgrade their roster and coaching staff.
The Lions didn’t waste much time addressing their offensive coaching room, as head coach Dan Campbell parted ways with John Morton and hired Drew Petzing as offensive coordinator. The decision to hire Petzing wasn’t the most appealing name on the market, but he fits with what the Lions want to do on offense.
Campbell also added former New York Giants interim head coach/offensive coordinator Mike Kafka to his coaching staff to bring more new and fresh ideas to the table. Detroit has clearly learned its lesson from this season.Â
However, the same cannot be said for the Packers, who won the season series over the Lions but have made puzzling coaching decisions on the offensive side of the ball. On Wednesday, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reported that the Packers are naming Luke Getsy as their QBs coach.
Lions Clearly Have Better Offensive Coaching Staff Than the Packers
Getsy, who served as a senior offensive assistant this season, is taking over the QBs coach job for Sean Mannion. Mannion shockingly left Green Bay last month to become the Philadelphia Eagles' offensive coordinator.
Packers fans were not pleased with Mannion’s departure as they would’ve rather seen current OC Andy Stenavich leave instead. However, Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur is content with Stenavich and staying in-house with Getsy.
Getsy has had multiple stints in Green Bay, serving in multiple roles, including QBs coach from 2019 to 2021. Getsy also had a rough three-year run with the Bears and the Las Vegas Raiders as their offensive coordinator.
On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with staying in-house for a hire, considering the stage of the offseason. However, for a team like the Packers, which had a lot of hype and failed to live up to it, one would think they would go outside the organization for change.
Instead, LaFleur took the complacency route with his coaching decisions, while Campbell was aggressive in making the necessary changes. The Lions hope that it means this offense will get back on track, but that’s a wait-and-see.
However, we can say without a doubt on paper that the Lions’ offensive coaching staff has the advantage over the Packers. Petzing had one of the better rushing attacks during his first two years in Arizona, and Kafka had some success as OC in New York.
Meanwhile, when you look at Stenavich and Getsy, neither guy exudes fear, as we know that LaFleur is the one calling the shots on offense. If anything, the Lions should know what to expect from the Packers’ offense.Â
Green Bay can’t say the same thing about Detroit’s offense, giving Campbell an advantage heading into next season.