After a long offseason, we made it. It’s a weekend filled with football from start to finish. On Sunday, we finally get to see the Green Bay Packers play in regular-season football for the first time in eight months when they take on the division rival Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field at 3:25 p.m. on CBS.
Over the last nine months since we’ve last seen these two teams play each other, there has been a ton of turnover. This matchup will not resemble the one from last December. How quickly these new elements of each team have been able to acclimate will be a massive determining factor in who wins on Sunday.
The Lions had a major overhaul in the coaching staff. They lost eight assistant coaches, including their offensive and defensive coordinators. Ben Johnson, their highly sought-after offensive coordinator, took a head coaching job with the Chicago Bears. Their former defensive coordinator, Aaron Glenn, is now the head coach of the New York Jets. To replace them, the Lions hired John Morton as OC and Kelvin Sheppard as DC.
John Morton was the Denver Broncos’ passing-game coordinator last season. Like Dan Campbell, he comes from the Sean Payton tree. They coached together in New Orleans in 2016, and he was on Campbell’s staff with the Lions in 2022 before taking a job in Denver.
Kelvin Sheppard has been with the Lions for five years, most recently serving as the linebackers coach. Before coaching, the former linebacker played eight years for five different teams.
It’s a tall task for these two to come in and fill the massive holes Johnson and Glenn left behind. It’ll tell us a lot about Dan Campbell as a coach. Green Bay needs to take advantage of the early-season opportunities with inexperienced coaches leading the way for Detroit.
The same goes for the Lions’ offensive line. After being one of the most dominant forces in the league the past few seasons, Detroit’s line got a huge shakeup this offseason. First, veteran guard Kevin Zeitler signed with the Tennessee Titans in free agency.
While the Lions likely would’ve preferred to keep Zeitler, they probably will be fine without him. Detroit has confidence in Christian Mahogany taking over at guard. He played well in limited action last season, despite being a sixth-round pick just a year ago.
The real kicker was the surprise retirement of Frank Ragnow in June. Ragnow was the leader, and the heart and soul of this team and the offensive line. He was the Lions culture: gritty, smart, technically sound, and tough as hell, playing through injuries. However, that mentality and playstyle led to his retirement.
“I’ve tried to convince myself that I’m feeling good,” he said in his retirement post, “but I’m not, and it’s time to prioritize my health and my family’s future.”
Fortunately for the Lions, they drafted right guard Tate Ratledge 57th overall out of Georgia in the draft a month earlier.
Having a stout offensive line is crucial to having a successful offense with Jared Goff under center, who is notoriously known for struggling against pressure. The Packers will put Detroit’s O-line to the test early.
Detroit has had a full offseason and training camp to get its new players and coaches up to speed. While I assume Detroit didn’t want to replace eight coaches and have two first-time starters along their line this season, they knew Johnson Glenn were likely to land head coaching jobs. They may have had an inkling that Ragnow was considering retirement before the draft, and they are well-positioned on paper.
Still, the Packers will put all of Detroit’s turnover to the test on Sunday.
On the other hand, Green Bay is at the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to the volume of turnover and the amount of time required to acclimate.
The Packers made two significant changes to their coaching staff. Linebackers coach Anthony Campanile will join Liam Coen in Jacksonville as their defensive coordinator. Green Bay promoted defensive assistant Sean Duggan to replace him. They hired DeMarcus Covington to replace Jason Rebrovich, who Green Bay fired at the end of the season after a disappointing performance from the defensive front. Still, they’ve had a full offseason and training camp to get ready.
Green Bay made significant changes to its roster. Despite having minimal roster turnover, the few changes they made will be key contributors who have had little time to prepare.
The first of those changes came in free agency when Green Bay spent big on Aaron Banks to replace Josh Myers along the interior, and Nate Hobbs, who is a projected starter. Although both players have been with the team since March, they suffered injuries during training camp.
Banks has been in and out of practice with back issues. However, those are reportedly behind him. Still, he has had little time to build chemistry with the rest of the line.
Hobbs underwent minor knee surgery in early August, which took up most of his training camp, but will hopefully set him up for long-term health. Health has been an issue in the past for Hobbs in his career. He’s missed 17 games in his first four seasons in the NFL, so this isn’t something you love to see. However, it’s better to get the surgery now than during the season, and hopefully, this can set him up for long-term health.
First-round pick Matthew Golden is the next newcomer who will be a key contributor. Golden has had a healthy camp and has taken advantage of the opportunities the Packers have presented him, and they listed him as a starter on their initial depth chart.
However, many of Green Bay’s other receivers have been injured. Dontayvion Wicks has missed much of camp with a calf injury, and Jayden Reed has been out with a Jones fracture in his foot. Jordan Love has also missed time with a non-throwing-hand thumb injury, but has been able to throw most of camp. Building up chemistry with other receivers isn’t as crucial as with other positions. Still, it only serves to help the offense.
And then there’s the biggest change. As we all know, the Packers traded for Micah Parsons. However, just a week and a half after joining the Packers, he’ll have to suit up in a game.
Parsons has been dealing with a somewhat nebulous back injury throughout camp and contract negotiations. The back injury is real, but he’s practiced every day since coming to Green Bay after not practicing in Dallas, and I expect him to play on Sunday.
How much he plays is the real question. Regardless of how much the back injury is affecting him, it’s more a matter of him getting game-ready. He hasn’t practiced much in camp, and even though Parsons is a superhuman, you aren’t going to throw him out there for 90% of snaps immediately.
When it comes to these changes for these teams, they will have to weigh the sheer volume of realignments against the time it takes to acclimate to them.
Sunday’s game is going to be a fun one. It looks like Green Bay is catching the Lions at the right time. Even though Detroit had a full camp to integrate their changes, it’s still not a lot of time for this much turnover, and there’s nothing like real game experience. However, if there is a coach I’d expect to have his team fully prepared, it’s Dan Campbell.
