Not often do the Detroit Lions play in high-stakes games to start the season, but that is exactly where they find themselves on Thursday. They head to Lambeau Field to battle Jordan Love as he looks to carve out his career as a Packer with the NFC North lead up for grabs between the two teams.
The Lions have a chance to end September with a 3-1 record if they can get a win in familiar territory to them from the end of last year. They dashed away the Packers playoff hopes with a win to end the regular season and ended the Aaron Rodgers era on a sour note.
Buy Lions TicketsNow the Packers will be looking for revenge while the Lions focus on going 1-0 on another week. Here are the keys to the Lions ending September on a run.
They need to use Jahmyr Gibbs like the high draft pick he is
Everyone loves a good steak, a filet mignon always hits the spot or maybe it is a ribeye that does the trick for you. Every steak needs some seasoning and a nice side to go with it, without those sides it’s just a bland dish that Gordan Ramsey will throw at the wall.
Jahmyr Gibbs is a steak that this team is refusing to plate with anything else and it is beyond frustrating. We are not asking for Gordan Ramsey and his lamb sauce to appear on the sideline but getting some extra touches and use in the passing game out of Jahmyr Gibbs would do this offense a lot of good.
The middle of the defense needs to step-up
31.5% of Jordan Love's throws this season have been uncatchable, highest rate in the NFL.
If he can just move that towards average it would make a huge difference.
— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) September 26, 2023
The middle of the defensive line manned by Benito Jones and Alim McNeil needs to continue the run they have been on to start the year. The two-headed monster of Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon is going to be a lot to handle, but they are more than capable. They need to contain both running backs and force the Packers to use Jordan Love more and see how well his uncatchable rate fares against the Lions defensive backs.
Josh Reynolds needs to continue to make plays
With an average catch yardage of 16.2, getting Josh Reynolds more catches and targets isn’t the worst idea. His role is destined to diminish when Jameson Williams returns so why not get as much use out of him while you can? Not to mention the Packers secondary is riddled with injuries including safety Zayne Anderson already being ruled out. Getting Reynolds to take the top off the defense should be a focus early in this game.
Dan Campbell needs to be driving the freight train
This is a big game for the Lions. While the approach by this team is to go 1-0 each week, this has been seen as something bigger. Getting a win against the Packers to take the division lead on the road would be monumental to their season. Knowing you can win against a division rival on the road lets a team know they can achieve anything throughout the course of the season and I hope that Dan Campbell relays that message to his team.
