DETROIT – It’s only one game.

Only one game.

One. Game.

If you say it enough times, you’ll start to believe it, right? I sure hope so for the sake of Detroit Lions fans after they spent Week 1 watching their team get punked up and down the field by the rival Green Bay Packers.

Lambeau Field has been the site of Detroit’s greatest conquests during the Dan Campbell era. There was the upset that knocked Green Bay out of the playoffs and ended the Aaron Rodgers era. There was the Thursday night beatdown of 2023, and the Kerby Joseph pick-six last year.

But Sunday was a completely different story. The Packers, who came in riding the momentum of the Micah Parsons trade, marched 83 yards for a touchdown to open the game and never looked back.

If not for a garbage time touchdown, the Lions would have lost by 21 points and failed to find the end zone entirely.

The postgame stats don’t tell the full story. The Lions got embarrassed.

The reason fans shouldn’t panic: It’s Week 1. There are 16 games remaining, and the Lions were a 15-2 team a year ago. Almost the entire core of that NFC No. 1 seed is back, so it would be preposterous to sound the alarm after one bad game.

But there’s also some reason for concern.

It would be one thing if the Lions lost because Jared Goff turned the ball over a few times. Or Amon-Ra St. Brown dropped a couple of passes. Or David Montgomery lost a key fumble.

We’ve seen enough from those guys to know they’re going to be just fine. The reason this Lions loss is so concerning: Everything the pessimists were worried about coming into the year played out exactly as they feared.

These issues didn’t come out of nowhere. And that makes them feel so much more legitimate.

If you’d asked Lions fans what worried them the most coming into 2025, many would have answered one of these three:

• A lack of pass rush opposite Aidan Hutchinson.

• Replacing two elite coordinators with complete unknowns.

• An offensive line that lost two of its top three players.

On the very first drive of the game, the pass rush problems were glaringly obvious. The Lions got absolutely no pressure on Jordan Love, allowing him to stand patiently in the pocket and complete passes downfield on three critical third downs.

The Lions finished the game with no sacks and two QB hits. It’s no coincidence that they failed to force a single turnover.

It was also a troubling first performance for offensive coordinator John Morton. Only a phenomenal acrobatic catch from rookie Isaac TeSlaa saved the Lions from getting shut out of the end zone.

No coordinator is going to be perfect, and Ben Johnson is a very tough act to follow. But Morton certainly didn’t want his debut to result in Detroit’s worst offensive output since a 2023 loss to the Bears.

One key series in particular felt mismanaged by Morton. The Lions were trailing by 11 points to start the first quarter and took a sack on the first play, setting up a second and 17 from the 1-yard line.

Morton waved the proverbial white flag, running twice up the middle for no gain and punting from the back of the end zone — a decision that led directly to a Packers touchdown drive on a short field.

No, you don’t want to get tackled for a safety, but it really felt like the Lions had to get on the board during that drive to stand a chance, and Morton didn’t give Goff, St. Brown. Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta, and company any opportunity to make a great play.

Recent Lions teams never played scared. It felt like Morton did in that moment.

Then there’s the offensive line.

This is probably the most concerning part of the opener, because the O-line has been the heart and soul of the Lions during their recent ascension.

Well, the first game without their leader, center Frank Ragnow, went disastrously.

Detroit gave up four sacks, nine QB hits, and rushed for just 2.1 yards per carry. The Lions had one run longer than 6 yards. One.

Penei Sewell had his hands full against Parsons for much of the night, but the rest of the crew really struggled. Taylor Decker and Graham Glasgow have hit steep declines since 2023. Rookie Tate Ratledge really struggled in his debut, and second-year guard Christian Mahogany wasn’t much better.

Maybe the Packers have a really strong defensive front. But either way, it wasn’t the sort of response Lions fans were hoping to see after losing Ragnow and Kevin Zeitler.

We all know the Lions have elite weapons on offense and playmakers at all three levels on D. But after that Week 1 performance, there are two major questions:

1. How strong are the Lions in the trenches, which has been the foundation for their success the past three years?

2. Are the Lions destined for some 2023 Philadelphia Eagles-like regression after losing booth coordinators?

A lot can change week-to-week in the NFL, so the Lions might come out against the Bears next weekend and silence all the doubters. But it’s hard not to feel a bit cynical after this first performance.

Especially since it came against the Packers.