With the Lions less than two weeks away from opening their season, they will be doing so without their secondary studs, Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph. The anchor of their offense, Sam LaPorta, even has some uncertainty surrounding his early-season status. Adding an even thicker layer to the mix, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Tuesday that Isiah Pacheco will miss a minimum of the first four games being placed on injured reserve.
That news means three critical pieces of this Lions team will be out the first four games of the season, with question marks still hovering over other impactful players. Yet, even with this discouraging news, Lions fans should have minimal concern.
An Easy Start
The Lions undoubtedly caught a break with a light schedule to start off their season. Outside of a Week 2 matchup with the Bills, Detroit should be able to cruise into the bye week with very little stress.
The Buffalo Bills are the only outlier on the Lions’ schedule up until Week 7 when they square off against the Packers at Ford Field. If you subtract Buffalo from the equation, the four other teams Detroit battles heading into the bye are far from intimidating.
The Saints, Jets, Panthers, and Cardinals are all on Detroit’s radar within the first five games of the season. While every new season presents a new look to each team, if you take any stock from the previous year, those four teams combined for a total of only 20 wins last season. If you isolate the Cardinals and Jets, both of those squads finished with only three wins in their disappointing seasons.
While improvement can certainly be made from year-to-year, if we learned anything from our own three-win season back in 2021, it is that improvement takes time. Detroit followed that three-win year by going 1-6 to start the 2022 season.
The moral of the story: four of the five teams Detroit will face to start the year are coming off a losing season. It is safe to assume those same four teams will not be a massive threat in the league this season.
Next Man Up Mentality
Entering the season, the status of Detroit’s offense is a little unknown. One of Jared Goff’s most reliable crutches, Sam LaPorta, is nursing a hip injury. While he’ll be sorely missed should he be absent for the encounter with Buffalo, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams should still be able to torch defenses without their reliable tight end. That is, if he misses any time at all.
Additionally, while Pacheco’s debut as a Lion is going to be delayed, it is highly unlikely there will be many critics of a run game that is a one-man show featuring Jahmyr Gibbs.
Defense Was Never Our Identity
The Lions’ secondary is a separate scenario. With Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph both sidelined to start the year, the defensive unit is undeniably the biggest concern for the 2026 season.
However, that concern shouldn’t weigh heavily on fans until after the bye week, when we enter the thick of the season. Make no mistake about it: the New Orleans Saints are a bad team. The New York Jets are a bad team. The Arizona Cardinals are a bad team. Any team that is a legitimate threat in this league should be able to overcome the odds and beat the bad teams while missing an important piece. If the Lions want to reinstate the narrative that they are a legitimate threat in the NFL this season, they absolutely need to prove it by winning these shorthanded games.
With or without Branch and Joseph, our Week 2 fight against the Bills was always going to be a shootout. Our 48-42 loss to them in 2024 is all the evidence you need to support that claim. The shootout narrative is one that will likely carry us throughout the entirety of this season when it comes to playing the really challenging teams. The Lions are not constructed to win as a result of their defense. This team is built to be an offensive juggernaut that takes teams out by chomping at the kneecaps.
Realistic Goals
If the offense remains healthy, this team can win any shootout on any given day. Our defensive goal needs to be to hold those threatening opponents to 30 points or less so our stacked offense can come away with a victory. That’s the mission that should be on Detroit’s radar further down the line. There’s a different mission Detroit should accomplish heading into the bye.
Enter the bye week at 4-1. If Detroit steals a game against the Bills in Buffalo, they can really set the tone as a threat early on. However, if they come up short in a valiant effort against a top team in the NFL on their home field, fans shouldn’t be discouraged.
The Lions absolutely have what it takes to enter the bye week a perfect 5-0. They are capable of beating Buffalo. Especially if Sam LaPorta is good to go for Week 2. LaPorta could be the deciding factor as to whether or not the Lions can pull off the upset. Regardless, a loss to Buffalo doesn’t derail our season. A loss to any of the other four teams they play to begin their year would be a completely different story. If they suffer defeat to the Saints, Jets, Panthers, or Cardinals, then they better be prepared to steal one back against the Bills.
5-0 is manageable for this team. Detroit should have expectations of going 4-1. Anything less than a 4-1 record, and we may have to start questioning whether this pride of Lions has already missed its window.