Dan Campbell finds out just how potent the Detroit Lions can be

On By Littum

That’s what Dan Campbell wanted to see. That’s what the Lions coach had talked about the last few weeks, that the offense wasn’t where it needed to be, that it had so much more to give, that games like this were out there.

Oh, maybe not 52-6 out there, like Detroit Lions torn down Jacksonville Jaguarsbut still you get the idea.

Admit it, too, this still feels new, these blowouts, these comfortable, stress-free games that look like “W’s” weeks ahead on the Detroit Lions’ calendar and then play exactly the way they’re supposed to.

Want a relaxing Sunday afternoon?

You have one.

So enjoy it. You have earned it. So have the Lions, who hadn’t been thrilled with their offensive output — or rhythm — the last few weeks.

They hung 52 on Tennessee three weeks ago, but scored on special teams and short fields because of special teams and turnovers. They started fast against Green Bay and faded in the second half. They started slowly against Houston and eventually got going.

It had been a while since they had put a full attack game on tape. You’d have to go back to the Dallas game or the Seattle game to find the kind of mammoth performances this team dreamed of back in the summer.

Well, they got it against the Jaguars, and before you dismiss them as the sludge at the bottom of your coffee, remember that the Titans didn’t come in as contenders either.

Yes, the quality of the defense is directly related to the quality of an attacking performance. But when an offense isn’t quite right, it will struggle even against the worst defenses in the league.

So yes, take the demolition in context, but know that Jared Goff was as sharp as he has been all season, that he was scrambling in the pocket to wait for receivers to get open, that he was scrambling—gasp! more than once that he threw 29 passes, completed 24 of them and finished his afternoon with 412 yards.

Yeah, I’d say it’s pretty sharp.

What about the running game?

Ben Johnson could have passed the ball to Dan Campbell and he would have picked up yardage the gaps in front were so massive. Not to diminish the special skills of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs, who gained extra yardage by bouncing off tacklers or cutting and beating them to corners.

It became so relaxed that a running clock would have been merciful. But since this is the NFL and the trophies are earned, stadiums get inventive to keep the interest flowing, like the folks at Ford Field did when they threw up a picture of Aaron Glenn’s rainy glasses on the giant scoreboard late in the third quarter just to give audience a little extra fun. By the way, the Lions were leading 42-6 at the time, and the game had been over since … the schedule came out?

Ah, that’s not fair. Jacksonville didn’t have Trevor Lawrence, and no one knew back then in the summer that Mac Jones would lead the way for the Jaguars.

Still, Sunday felt like a foregone conclusion and had for a while. That’s how it is from time to time for serious Super Bowl contenders.

It’s a different feeling, isn’t it?

Think about it this way:

When was the last time you drove down to Ford Field or turned on the TV to a Lions game without any anxiety whatsoever?

Don’t you remember it?

Of course you can’t, because as good as the Lions were a season ago, the PTSD from all the seasons before is still there. And maybe a touch of it still does, but with each win in this season of first-place finishes — the Lions hadn’t won eight in a row since the 30s — the past becomes more and more blurred.

Mostly because the present is actually about the present, and not the future. Not next year’s draft, or next year’s coach, or next year’s hope. This season is about this season, and if anyone is looking ahead, it’s to the playoffs or to New Orleans, where the Super Bowl will be played.

Now karma keeps some of that in check. Still, these lions make everyone rethink what it feels like to love the lions. And playing for the Lions. And to face the lions.

Up by 46 points in the fourth?

So what, the head coach is still going to throw the red flag when he thinks a receiver on the other team got away with an illegal catch.

Leading 35-6 late in the third?

Who cares?

Campbell goes for it on fourth down anyway, even though there was a chip-shot field goal to be had. The Lions naturally converted. Goff threw a nine-yard pass to Tim Patrick. On the next play, he hit Brock Wright in the corner of the end zone to make it 42-6.

Trade for an upgrade at defensive end? To replace your rising star?

Za’Darius Smith wasn’t even needed. Sure, he needed reps and the crowd roared when he was introduced before the game, and they’ll need his help getting after the quarterback as the quarterback play improves.

But on this Sunday?

He mingled with the rest of this improved defense. On a day where the offense was the story.

The Lions will need both to get where they want to go. But it must have been something of a relief to see the offense look the way it has for much of the last two years.

Contact Shawn Windsor: [email protected]. Follow him @shawnwindsor.