3 winners and 5 losers in the Lions loss to the Packers, Brad Holmes is going to have a bad week, but not for the reasons you think

This was a bad game for the Detroit Lions. There’s no way around it. In the loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Lions had one of the worst games they’ve had in a while. It was pretty reminiscent of that dominant loss they had against the Baltimore Ravens in 2023. We’ve got 3 winners […]

Mike Payton — Detroit Lions Beat Writer
Add as preferred source on Google
Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

This was a bad game for the Detroit Lions. There’s no way around it. In the loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Lions had one of the worst games they’ve had in a while. It was pretty reminiscent of that dominant loss they had against the Baltimore Ravens in 2023. We’ve got 3 winners and 5 losers for this one. Here they are:

Winners

Sam LaPorta

It’s understandably going to get lost in the shuffle, but LaPorta had a really nice game on Sunday. He had six catches for 79 yards and blocked probably better than any player on the field. It’s a bright spot for the Lions that LaPorta looked like the guy we saw in his rookie year as opposed to the guy we saw last year.

Brian Branch

Branch was the best defensive player on the field for the Lions in this one. He was good in coverage, especially in the second half. He had a pick six that should have been a pick six, but it was called back for multiple questionable reasons. Other than that, Pro Football Focus had him with an 87.7 grade in their instant grades.

Isaac TeSlaa

He’s a winner because holy hell, what a catch.

Losers

Penei Sewell

Sewell has never been in this category before. I don’t know what to do with my hands. This was such a bad day for him. Probably the worst game of his Hall of Fame career. He allowed three pressures, and he struggled to run block, too. Everything that could go wrong there went wrong. The good thing is, we know how good this guy is. He can snap back next week.

Tate Ratledge

Ratledge looked exactly like a rookie offensive lineman usually looks, so we won’t harp on him too much. Especially since he had to contend with Micah Parsons on multiple snaps. That’s a big ask for a veteran player. Ratledge allowed four pressures and a sack. Things will get better there. Don’t freak out. Again, a rookie offensive lineman had to stop one of the best players in the game.

Terrion Arnold

This was an all-around bad day for Arnold. He allowed four catches for 86 yards and a touchdown on six targets and then went out with a groin injury that caused him to miss the entire second half of the game. This was the worst outing he’s had in his career so far.

Dave Fipp

This was a rough day for the special teams group as a whole. Multiple penalties and the curious choice to have Jacob Saylors, who barely had any returns this summer, as the return man along with Grant Stuard, who I still don’t understand why he’s taking returns. It was just bad field position all day. Even Jack Fox, who’s usually incredible, didn’t have his best stuff in this game. This has been a rough year for this group so far, and they have to get it under control. All three phases are super important.

Brad Holmes

To be 1,000% clear, Holmes is a very good GM, and I don’t think he did anything wrong this week. He’s in this category because a lot of Lions fans are going to blame him for not getting an edge rusher, even though the Lions did fairly well in bringing pressure and struggled mightily in coverage, and couldn’t get anything going on offense. Generating a pass rush was near the bottom in reasons as to why this team lost. But again, that is not going to stop the radio guys and the people who listen to the radio guys from exclusively blaming Holmes for this one thing.

I mean, if you wanted to blame him for anything, it’s not getting Kevin Zeitler to stay or being more active with the offensive line in free agency if you knew Frank Ragnow was going to retire. The Lions’ offense couldn’t get going because the line got taken to the woodshed.

Related Articles