The Detroit Lions opened the season with a terrible performance on both offense and defense. Offensively, Detroit put up just 246 yards and scored 13 points, with seven coming in the last minute of the game. Thankfully, Week 2 was a different story for the Lions as they put up 511 yards of offense and scored 52 points.
While there was some concern among Lions fans about the offense after Week 1, offensive coordinator John Morton wasn't concerned. Three days before the game, Morton said, "Nobody's in panic mode." Though panic was beginning to happen outside the Lions' facility, it seems the new offensive coordinator was confident things would turn around quickly.
New Lions OC John Morton Felt Week 2 Offensive Success Coming
Leading up to their Week 2 matchup against the Bears, Lions fans were calling out everything wrong with the offense in Week 1. The most obvious issue was the offensive line playing poorly. This led to Jared Goff being under constant duress against the Packers, and the running game struggling.
Many fans thought calling more pre-snap motions and shifts would have helped with that. Over the past two seasons with Ben Johnson, Detroit has been at the top of the league in those two categories. In Week 1 under Morton, there was little of that, leading to a stagnant offense.
Fortunately, on Sunday against the Bears, Detroit's offense returned to what made them successful the past two seasons. As a result, the entire offensive line played better. Not only did that help the passing attack, but the ground game looked great, too.
Jahmyr Gibbs had 12 carries for 94 yards and a touchdown after being held to 19 yards on nine carries against Green Bay. Getting Gibbs going and reestablishing the ground game was always a must for the Lions offense after Week 1.
Both Lions fans and Morton understand how talented the offense is. However, some Lions fans didn't trust that Morton would figure it out after the poor performance to start the season. Morton, on the other hand, was confident everything would figure itself out.
Detroit now heads into Week 3 against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night football. Facing the Ravens will be a challenge similar to playing the Packers in Week 1. Therefore, Morton will need to be on his A game like he was against Chicago to defeat Baltimore.