What changes do the Lions need to make after their bye week?

The Detroit Lions bye week is upon us after five weeks of up-and-down football. The team enters the break on a high after trouncing the Arizona Cardinals 45-21 on Sunday, but there is still room for improvement across the roster and coaching staff.

The bye week is an opportunity to get healthy and get reinforcements, and the Lions will surely benefit from the return of Brian Branch and Cade Mays to the lineup, among others. However, the bye is also a time to reflect on what has and has not worked early in the season. An NFL season is a marathon and not a sprint, so any lessons they can take from their early slate of games can be used to improve down the stretch.

What aspect of the Lions is in need of a change after the bye?

Today’s Question of the Day is:

What changes do you want to see from the Detroit Lions after their bye week?

My answer: I want to see the offense be more efficient and effective in the first quarter.

There is no shortage of improvements that Detroit needs to make. Their secondary needs to maintain the level of play they had versus the Cardinals. The linebackers need to improve in coverage, especially against tight ends. The team in general needs to clean up their execution and reduce their number of false starts, holds, delay of games, and illegal formation. One avenue that I think the Lions can and should improve upon is their first quarter scoring.

Through five weeks, the Lions have scored an absurd 164 points, all without a defensive or special teams touchdown. Surprisingly, only 10 of those points have come in the first quarter. They scored a touchdown on their second drive versus the New Orleans Saints in Week 1. They were shut out against the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets in Weeks 2 and 3. They mustered a lone field goal against the Carolina Panthers in Week 4. Against the Cardinals in Week 5, they started with back-to-back-to-back three-and-outs.

It is a testament to how good this offense can be that they are scoring this many points despite essentially punting away the first quarter. In contrast, the Lions have scored 57 points in the second quarter, 45 points in the third quarter, and 52 points in the fourth quarter and overtime—that is a staggering difference. What is causing the slow starts?

Are crowds hyped up early in the game and causing poor communication? That is perhaps an answer for the Buffalo game, but Detroit has also had two home games, one of which featured their only first quarter touchdown. I would not say that travel is the cause. Neither would I say that chemistry or offensive scheme is the issue. Despite some shuffling of the offensive line, the blocking up front has been largely effective and cohesive, especially compared to 2025. As for play calling, Drew Petzing can clearly get the offense operating at an elite level, but for some reason it takes a quarter for things to start rolling.

I think the recurring trend is a negative play causing the offense to stall:

• Versus the Saints, two of their first quarter drives ended in punts after suffering some type of loss: a loss of three on third-and-1 killed the first drive and the second was hampered by a holding penalty on first down.
• Versus the Bills, the Lions gave up two sacks and a botched snap on the first two drives.
• Versus the Jets, Jared Goff was again sacked twice over the opening pair of drives.
• Versus the Panthers, their first two drives stalled due to holding penalties on first down, though they managed to end the first drive with a field goal.
• Versus the Cardinals, Goff was sacked on each of the first three drives en route to a three-and-out.

There is a very clear trend: if the Lions offense falls behind the sticks due to a negative play, whether self-inflicted or not, they sputter. Penalties should be correctable, but the Lions are being particularly hurt by sacks allowed. Across their five games this season, the Lions have only scored 10 points on a drive in which Goff was sacked: a field goal versus the Saints in the fourth quarter and a touchdown versus the Bills in the dying minutes of the game. Simply put, getting sacked early in the game is killing drives.

The despite the sacks allowed, I think blame is not solely on the starting offensive line or Goff. There is a myriad of reasons why the sacks have been happening. Backup Larry Borom was on ice skates versus the Bills. Opponents have been springing well-timed blitzes. Routes have been slow to develop or simply smothered by good coverage.

If the Lions offense can clean up their procedural mistakes and minimize these early-game stumbles, imagine how much more threatening this team could be. Though the defense played well versus Arizona, there is still a legitimate question about how effective they will be against better competition. One way to help out the defense is to keep them off the field for as long as possible. Another way to help out is to simply score early and score often. I think that the Lions offense has the ceiling to do both.

What do you want to see the Lions clean up during the bye? Join the conversation.