Why the Lions are the NFL’s team to beat after five weeks of the 2025 season
In a league where off-season headlines scream doom for teams daring to tinker with their blueprint, the Detroit Lions have flipped the script.
Five weeks into the 2025 season, Dan Campbell’s squad sits atop the NFC North, and arguably the entire NFL with a 4-1 record that’s as convincing as it is improbable. Sure, they coughed up a gut-wrenching opener to the rival Packers, but that already feels a long time ago. Four straight wins later, the Lions are scoring at a rate unseen in franchise history, boasting 174 points through five games — the most ever for Detroit at this juncture.
And all this despite the concerns of losing offensive wizard Ben Johnson to a head-coaching gig in Chicago and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn to the Jets? If anything, those departures have lit a fire under a roster that’s deeper, hungrier, and more primed for a Super Bowl run than ever before.
The Lions aren’t just surviving what many were predicting as a potential post-Johnson/Glenn downfall; they’re thriving in it. Dan Campbell’s meat-and-potatoes culture — equal parts grit, accountability, and unyielding belief — has inoculated the team against any potential hangover.
“We’re built for this,” Campbell growled after the week 2 dismantling of the Bears, his eyes gleaming like a coach who’s seen the abyss and laughed. That ethos permeates every snap, turning a roster of premier talents into a symphony of chaos for opposing defences. On offense, Jared Goff is slinging it with surgical precision, with a group brimming with talent, from offensive line, to hungry wideouts and still the best running-back duo in the league. Flip to defense, and it’s the same story. This isn’t a star-studded facade; it’s a juggernaut from trench to trench, a team that could legitimately go toe-to-toe with anyone in a seven-game series.
Nonetheless, the real proving ground looms large: a primetime showdown Sunday night at Arrowhead Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Lions roll in as surprising +2.5 underdogs, a line that reeks of recency bias after KC’s heartbreaker of a late loss to the Jaguars last week.
Patrick Mahomes and company are still, to me, the gold standard in the NFL, despite a rusty start to the year, but Detroit’s momentum is strong. A win here would staple the Lions as the undisputed team to beat, a declaration that Campbell’s crew isn’t chasing contenders; they’re the ones dictating power rankings.
Of course, no coronation comes without thorns. The easy sledding of the schedule’s opening act is over, and a meat grinder awaits. Without rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold sidelined by injury, the secondary’s depth gets tested immediately in this five-game gauntlet: Chiefs, Buccaneers, Vikings, Commanders, and Eagles. Tampa’s Baker Mayfield is slinging picks like candy, Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson is a one-man wrecking crew, Washington’s Jayden Daniels is electrifying on the ground, and Philly’s Jalen Hurts is… well, Jalen Hurts. It’s a gauntlet that could humble pretenders, but for the Lions? It’s an invitation to impose their will.
The offence, under new coordinator John Morton, is the engine purring loudest right now, shredding the narrative that Johnson’s exit would leave them gasping for air. Morton hasn’t dazzled with flashy, new schematics like Ben Johnson, but he doesn’t necessarily need to. He’s preserved the Lions’ mantra, that anybody can eat on any given down. Tight end Sam LaPorta feasts on seam routes one week, St. Brown torments corners the next, and I’m sure Jameson Williams will once again start to explode in games.
It’s a counterpunch masterpiece; when defenses stack the box for the run, Morton dials up play-action bombs. When they drop eight to blanket the pass, Gibbs and Montgomery gashed for 200 yards on the ground last Sunday. Few teams make elite football look this effortless, like a well-oiled machine humming towards perfection.
Through it all, Campbell’s fingerprints are everywhere. His unapologetic ferocity has forged a locker room that could be the most genuinely together group in the NFL.
Sunday at Arrowhead isn’t just another game; it’s verification or vaporisation. If the Lions topple the Chiefs, they don’t just quiet the doubters; they drown them. This is Detroit’s moment, a team stacked with stars, steered by a culture of conquerors, and charging toward a Super Bowl that’s no longer a dream, but looking like it could be their destiny.
