A blowout victory was just what the Detroit Lions needed to right the ship.
The difference between this week versus the Washington Commanders and last week versus the Minnesota Vikings was night and day.
The week prior, little was working with the Lions offense. Jared Goff was under duress for most of the night and was sacked five times. The running backs faltered heavily, with Jahmyr Gibbs having arguably the worst game of his short-yet-stellar career. The team was 5-for-17 on third down attempts, many of which were third-and-long. During one stretch of the game, the Lions went punt, punt, punt, fumble, field goal, blocked field goal—many wasted opportunities in a three-point loss.
Against Washington, everything worked. Goff was kept clean, never getting sacked and rarely getting hit in any capacity. The ground game exploded, with Gibbs leading the way with 15 carries for 142 yards and two touchdowns—not to be forgotten, David Montgomery also chimed in with 71 rushing yards. The combination of a dominant rushing attack and excellent protection gave Goff plenty of time to spread the ball out, with Jameson Williams, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Sam LaPorta, and Kalif Raymond each recording four or more receptions. Even when the Lions failed on third down (5-of-10), they either converted on fourth down (2-for-2) or added a field goal—the Lions scored on every drive barring the final one.
Between this week and last, the Lions made two notable changes of varying significance.
The first change was to ditch the matching jersey-pant uniform combination. For the first time since Week 2 of the 2024 season, the Lions opted to wear their silver pants. The reason was likely pure superstition: in that Week 2 game, they lost in disappointing fashion to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. From then onward, the Lions rolled out the blueberries (home blues), marshmallows (road whites), or all-black alternates—and the wins kept rolling in. However, after last week’s loss to the Vikings, Detroit was seemingly in a funk. Superstition works both ways, and if something that was once working no longer is, it seems reasonable to switch things up. With the change in pant color, the Lions turned in one of their best games of the season.
However, the color of the Lions’ pants is not the reason for their victory over the Commanders. The biggest reason was their other notable change: head coach Dan Campbell taking over as play caller. As they did with their pants, the Lions felt like they needed to try something different amid some struggles. Campbell took the reins against the Commanders and it seemingly made all the difference.
After such a decisive victory, it seems improbable that offensive coordinator John Morton will resume his play calling duties next week against the Philadelphia Eagles—much like with uniform superstition, you stick with something until it doesn’t work. The Lions will get another week to see if Campbell’s play calling truly made a difference or whether it was a combination of a weak opponent and improved execution from the players. However, is that the right call for Detroit going forward—should a 6-3 team essentially bench their offensive coordinator?
Today’s Question of the Day is:
Should Dan Campbell be the permanent play caller going forward?
My answer: Yes.
I do think this is a different circumstance from 2021. During Campbell’s first year, Anthony Lynn was demoted from his play calling duties after a dreadful start to the season. It was a clear-cut case of Lynn’s vision of the offense failing and Campbell knowing how to salvage a sinking ship. With Morton and the 2025 offense, however, it is a difficult situation to judge.
On one hand, the offense has significantly more talent than what Lynn had. However, talent alone is no guarantee of victory in the NFL, and despite the struggles of the offense coming into this game, I still believe that Morton deserves some credit for the success they have had thus far. Between Weeks 2 and 5, the Lions had scored 34 or more points in each game, thanks largely to an offense blowing out opponents. If you want to discount those victories because they came against lesser opponents, then you need to apply that same logic to this win over the Commanders.
That being said, the decision to change play caller is not one made lightly, and it is difficult to envision a scenario in which Morton reclaims that role. If the Lions keep winning, then Campbell must continue to call plays. If the Lions go back to losing, is returning Morton to his play calling role going to change much of anything with the offense?
I believe that Morton, Campbell, and the positional coaches view this as a collaborative effort, so Morton will still be involved in the offense regardless of his play calling capacity. Campbell might be the one calling the shots, but Morton’s fingerprints are all over the playbook. If you want to have a discussion about whether Morton should return in 2026, I understand, but until this season is over, he will remain a key part of the offensive game plan, even if Campbell is the play caller going forward.
