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Five things to watch as Detroit Lions face the Ravens; plus prediction

Characterizing the Lions’ Monday nighter at the Ravens as a revenge game might be a bit much, but don’t be fooled the Lions have not forgotten the 38-6 shellacking at Baltimore in 2023.

“Physically they wore us out, physically they beat us up,’’ coach Dan Campbell said. “That’s hard when we worked the way we worked, detailed our scheme is one thing. But physically when they go in and out-performed us physically, that’s what we took from it.’’

Two years later much has changed for both teams who have started the season 1-1.

The Lions have not had luck winning at Baltimore, but they are coming off a solid performance in a win over the Chicago Bears.

“ I want to go in this place and know that we can continue to get better against a really good team, at their place, knowing what kind of team they are and what their identity is. Because I know our identity,’’ Campbell said. “That’s going to – let’s give ourselves a chance at the end of the day to win this one. That’s the whole point, man. And it’s going to take all three units being on top.”

Five things to watch:

ONE: Not surprisingly, Jared Goff and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown have found success in the first two games, especially in Sunday’s win over the Bears when they connected for three touchdowns and a total of 115 yards. The Ravens’ passing defense is ranked 31st in NFL allowing 298 passing yards per game. It’s a stat that could be deceiving since there have only been two games. “Listen, it’s an art form. So, if you love art – which I’m not saying I do or I don’t – but it’s awesome to watch,’’ Campbell said. “They’ve got such a rapport with each other and they trust each other immensely. The way that he runs his routes and he’s so crisp and he’s so detailed and his body demeanor screams to Goff, it helps him anticipate the throws. And they’ve just got so much time on task, he knows exactly what he’s going to do and (Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint knows exactly where the ball’s going to be before he’s out of the break.’’

TWO: The Lions must contain mobile QB Lamar Jackson. Last week he was held to two runs for 13 yards but passed for four touchdowns and 224 yards. This will be the third straight week the Lions have faced a mobile QB. “It does help to have faced two mobile quarterbacks,’’ Campbell said of the Bears’ Caleb Williams and the Packers’ Jordan Love. Lamar is the catalyst of the Ravens’ offense. He’s special but the Lions defense played well in the win over the Bears. They’ll need to bring that again this week. “What does Lamar do well? Everything. What does he not do well? Nothing. I mean he could beat you all different ways. Run game, pass game, pass game he could do it in the pocket, out of the pocket,’’ defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said.

THREE: Ravens running back Derrick Henry averaged just 2.1 yards per carry for a total of 23 yards in the win over the Browns. On the other hand, WRs Zay Flowers, DeAndre Hopkins and Devontez Walker will provide a challenge for the Lions’ secondary. They combined for four touchdown catches last week. “It’ll be a good challenge, but I’ll tell you, we’re excited for this challenge. We recognize this opponent, we respect what they’re about, and we’re looking forward to this, going out there at their place on Monday night,’’ Campbell said. “So this is going to be fun, man. This is one of those, this is why you do it.”

FOUR: It’s key to get off to a good start. In that miserable loss in 2023 the Lions were down 28-0 at the half. Sheppard said it’s important to get a stop on the Ravens’ first drive.: “For me it sets the tone for the day. Now, it doesn’t dictate the outcome of the day because you could have a first three-and-out and not get off the field the rest of the game,’‘ Sheppard said. “That’s not good. But, to me it sets the tone. And me as a defensive guy, I want to be out there first and set the tone for the day. So when we’re called to do that, we need to go do that and let the offense know they feed off us, we feed off them, you saw it last week. It was a three-headed monster we had.’’

FIVE: Look for a bigger role for rookie WR Isaac TeSlaa who has had just two catches in two games but they both were highlight-reel one-handed grabs. One for a touchdown in Week 1 and the other — a 29-yarder — to set up a TD against the Bears. “People say he has great hands, I don’t necessarily know that he has great hands, I haven’t seen his left hand yet,’’ said Scottie Montgomery, Lions assistant head coach/WRs. “… Probably two of the more impressive catches that I’ve seen.”

PREDICTION: Lions 28, Ravens 24

MONDAY: Lions (1-1) at Ravens (1-1), 8:15 p.m.

UP NEXT: Cleveland Browns at Lions, 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 28.

Lions versatile safety Brian Branch one of defensive standouts in win over Bears

ALLEN PARK — When Dan Campbell listed the outstanding defensive players from the 52-21 win over the Bears, safety Brian Branch was at the top of the list.

Branch had a standout game with a pretty nice stat line — he forced a fumble, had a sack and made six tackles.

On Monday, Campbell said Branch makes life much easier on the pages because of his versatility.

“We bring it up all the time, he’s a safety that has cover ability like a corner, he can blitz like a linebacker and tackling and fill in the run gaps,’’ Campbell said. “There’s so many different things he can do. The guy is a major asset for us.’’

After Sunday’s game the Lions are 1-1, the Bears 0-2.

It was a huge bounceback for Detroit after a lackluster loss at Green Bay in Week 1.

“It showed us what we’re capable of doing. We know how good we are when we execute what coach Shep (DC Kelvin Sheppard) calls,’’ Branch said. “Coach Shep called a great ball game … Just moving forward we re-established our brand of football

Facing Ben Johnson, Bears head coach and former Lions offensive coordinator, was down-played leading up to Sunday, afterward Branch wasn’t afraid to share his feelings.

“Really, all these games are personal, but this one we felt like we’d been betrayed from the staff to players,’’ Branch said. “And we love Ben, we still love Ben. He’s a great coach. He’s a great mastermind but, yeah, it was time to get after him.”

Branch explained they felt betrayed because Johnson went to an NFC North opponent.

The Lions won’t face the Bears again until the final game of the regular season. Date to be determined but likely Jan 3 or 4.

INJURIES: Marcus Davenport left the game early with a shoulder injury. Campbell doesn’t have all the test results in yet, but he’s hoping he won’t be out too long.

UP NEXT: Lions (1-1) at Baltimore Ravens (1-1), 8:15 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 22.

Five reasons the Lions bounced back and routed the Bears, 52-21

DETROIT — For the Detroit Lions, the train might have nearly gone off the track a week ago in Green Bay, but the boys were back on Sunday in a 52-21 rout of the Chicago Bears at Ford Field

“I’ve said this all along, this train keeps rolling and it’s always going to start with the players,’’ coach Dan Campbell said. “We have players, we have playmakers, and they’re made the right way. They’re the right kind of guys. They know how to get in the ditch and just start digging. They don’t worry about the other stuff.’’

The fact they were facing former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, now the Bears head coach, did not play a huge role in their turn-around. Moreso it was just motivation to win a division game.

Both offensive and defensive lines stepped up their games.

“I knew we would play better because our guys came into work and we knew what we needed to clean up and we worked at cleaning it up,’’ Campbell said. “They had the right look and they came out fighting – that’s what they do.”

The Lions came out and scored the first touchdown on a 5-play, 60-yard drive ending with a Jahmyr Gibbs 6-yard touchdown run.

They were up 28-14 at the half and held the Bears to just one touchdown in the second half. The Lions moved to 1-1 while the Bears dropped to 0-2.

Five of the reasons the Lions won:

ONE: Jared Goff pitched a near-perfect game, passing for five touchdowns and completing 23 of 28 passes for 334 yards. He got plenty of help from WR Amon-Ra St. Brown who caught nine balls for three touchdowns and 115 yards. “He’s a stud. He’s as good as they get in our league, he’s a stud, he does everything in the run game, everything in the pass game,’’ Goff said. “As reliable of a player as I’ve ever thrown to in my life. We have a pretty good chemistry going on in our fifth year. We push each other really hard.’’

TWO: Explosive plays were huge. Goff threw five passes of 29 or more yards. Jameson Williams had just 2 catches — one for 64, the other a 44-yard touchdown. He wasn’t alone. “It always starts with the O-line here, it does, probably most teams but for sure us. When they play well it allows us to do a lot,’’ Campbell said.

THREE: The defense made huge stops, none better than stuffing the Bears on back-to-back plays of third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 early in the second quarter. Safety Brian Branch was all over the field finishing with a sack, a forced fumble, a pass defense, two tackles for loss and six tackles. Bears QB Caleb Williams was sacked four times with Aidan Hutchinson getting first sack of the season and Branch, Al-Quadin Muhammad and Marcus Davenport also pitching in. “Just moving forward we re-established our brand of football,’’ Branch said.

FOUR: The Lions created two turnovers with a Kerby Joseph second-quarter interception that led to a Brock Wright TD catch. Earlier Branch forced a fumble with Jack Campbell recovering. Terion Arnold’s interception with 12:15 left was negated by a roughing the passer penalty. “It’s huge in this league, that’s what it’s all about getting takeaways, coach Campbell and coach Shep (DC Kelvin Sheppard), all our coaches preach that — no matter what the offense is doing the defense has to force turnovers,’’ Branch said, “We force turnovers then it gives our offense another chance to score.’’

FIVE: The offensive line settled down and was much improved from Week 1. RBs Jahmyr Gibbs (12-94 yards, 1 TD) and David Montgomery (11-57, 1 TD) got the run game in gear averaging 5.9 yards per carry – much improved over 2.1 in the Green Bay opener. Gibbs scampered 42 yards to set up another Goff-St. Brown touchdown late in the third. Goff could see the line really jell. “In particular, Tate (Ratledge) and (Christian) Mahogany as younger players were able to get last week out of the way and settle in a little bit today,’’ Goff said. “More Tate than Mahogany who had experience last year. I thought Tate played great today. I haven’t seen the tape but at least in pass pro I felt firm there, you felt strong, it felt like he was pushing downhill.’’

UP NEXT: Lions (1-1) at Baltimore Ravens (1-1), Monday, Sept. 22 at 8:15 p.m.