The Detroit Lions were the best team in the NFL all season. They dominated opponents with speed and power on offense with the two-headed backfield of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. On defense, it didn’t seem to matter who got injured; the team continued to find ways to shut down opponents. Unfortunately, the season ended in disappointment when they lost to the Washington Commanders in the divisional round. This team has some massive questions going into 2025. Here are three of the most important questions this offseason for the Lions.
1. How Do The Detroit Lions Deal With The Loss Of Both Coordinators?
It didn’t take long for the Detroit Lions coaching staff to get completely dismantled. Two days after the season ended, Ben Johnson left to become the head coach of the Chicago Bears. A few days later, the New York Jets decided to make Aaron Glenn their next head coach. This happens with good teams, but losing both in one season is brutal. On top of that, both are raiding the rest of the coaching staff to build their own. There is some good news.
This is the third time since 2010 that a team has lost both its coordinators in the offseason. The 2013 Cincinnati Bengals (Jay Gruden and Mike Zimmer) and the 2022 Philadelphia Eagles (Shane Steichen and Jonathan Gannon) were the other two. Both of those teams made the playoffs the next season. It happens every so often, but it never completely derails a team.
I have more questions about the defense rather than the offense. On offense, this team still has MVP finalists Jared Goff, Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Jameson Williams. Any competent offensive coordinator should be able to get scoring out of that bunch. On defense, Glenn brought a certain identity that will be tough to replace. It will be interesting to see who they replace these two with and how it will affect the team in 2025.
2. What Does Aidan Hutchinson Look Like Next Year?
I don’t think we understand the season Aidan Hutchinson was having before he broke his leg. In five games, he had 19 tackles, 17 quarterback hits, one forced fumble, and 7.5 sacks. To put this in perspective, at the end of the season, he was tied with a slew of players for the 13th most sacks in all of 2024. He had the same number of sacks as Maxx Crosby and Rashan Gary. He had more sacks than Matt Judon and Montez Sweat. The challenge with any player coming off an injury is we truly don’t know what they will look like.
Sometimes, it takes a year for a player to feel comfortable playing at the highest level. We’ve seen this with players coming off a serious injury. It’s one thing to feel comfortable with it in rehab, it’s another to feel comfortable in an NFL game. Furthermore, if you want to nitpick, 4.5 of the sacks last year were in one game, leading to inflated numbers. Hutchinson is the leader of the Detroit Lions defense. If he regresses, the unit as a whole will be less effective.
3. What’s A Realistic Outlook for 2025?
There’s a lot of disappointment around the Detroit Lions fan base right now, rightfully so. Going 15-2 and then getting bounced in the divisional round is rough. Then, the following week, both coordinators leave for other jobs. However, fans should still feel positive about their team. Yes, Johnson is no longer the OC, but this offense still has some of the most electric players in the NFL. On defense, the talent level is also above-averag,e especially when everyone gets back from injury.
Should we expect the Detroit Lions to go 15-2 next year? No. That would be unrealistic. Should this team be the favorite in the NFC North next year? Absolutely. This team is still loaded with talent, and Campbell is still a coach players rally behind. Regression is to be expected. However, I don’t see this team falling so far they are back in the basement of the NFL. Winning a Super Bowl is hard, and Detroit found that out this year. Hopefully that will make them hungrier to prove the doubters wrong.
Final Thoughts
While it can be hard, the Detroit Lions should feel good where they are at going into 2025. They have some free-agent decisions to make and need to improve the roster around the fringes, but this is still one of the most talented teams in the league. It will be interesting to see who Dan Campbell hires to fill out his coaching staff and who they decide to bring back. Don’t let the disappointment of this year fool you. This is still one of the favorites to win it all next year.
