A stunning 23-10 collapse at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings’ defense brought the Detroit Lions’ season to a crushing halt. Making matters worse, with the Baltimore Ravens’ Saturday night victory over the Green Bay Packers, a win would have kept Detroit’s postseason hopes alive. Now, instead of preparing for a playoff run, Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell are conducting a post-mortem, pondering the mistakes that caused the team’s demise.
Mistakes That Ended Detroit Lions’ Season Before It Began
As Campbell stated to ESPN , “I’m going to be looking at a lot. I’m going to be looking at a lot of things because I do not like being home for the playoffs. And I know our guys don’t either.” Never one to duck personal accountability, Campbell acknowledged that in looking at everything, he included himself. Stating it takes a village whenever you lose, “Everybody’s involved, including myself. So I’m always going to look at myself first.”
The Lions Post-Mortem Begins
In addition to coaching mistakes, just as with any autopsy, there will be plenty of other factors to examine. A drastically weakened offensive line. Too many injured elite players that Detroit couldn’t adequately replace. An overall lack of consistency in all three phases of the game. Each of these issues contributed to the Lions’ mid-season collapse.
Consequently, from one game to the next, fans never knew which Lions team would show up that week. Following a 27-13 loss to the Packers in Week 1, the team rebounded with four consecutive victories. A 30-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 6 signaled cracks in the facade. However, the very next week, the Lions put up a heroic defense against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Detroit won that game 24-9 without Tampa Bay ever crossing the end zone.
Relying On Lions’ Past Created A False Sense of Hope
Even as the next seven weeks were spent in a frustrating loop of win one game, lose the next, memories of the Lions’ historic 2024 season kept hopes alive. After all, this was the team that overcame injury after injury a year ago. Surely, the Lions would triumph once again. But despite a strong game against the Los Angeles Rams, the team looked out of its depth against the NFL’s best.
The loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on two horrific game-ending penalties sealed Detroit’s fate. A battered, stitched-together Lions team simply could not overcome poor officiating along with the avalanche of injuries and player inexperience. Afterwards, even the hard-charging upbeat Campbell sounded defeated.
Three Mistakes That Doomed the Lions’ Season
This is not intended as an indictment of either Holmes or Campbell. The Lions would not have achieved all that they have without their brilliant leadership and wisdom. Unfortunately, mistakes were made that resulted in the Lions taking a step backwards this year, and perhaps the Lions were doomed before the 2025 season began. Here are three potential mistakes that could have doomed the Lions’ season.
The Lions NFL 2025 Draft
Playing “Monday Morning Quarterback,” it’s easy to see where a single decision might have resulted in a vastly different outcome. Holmes is a tremendous judge of underrated talent. His 2021-2023 draft classes rank among the finest in the NFL. However, this year, his draft selections didn’t fare as well. Of the seven players drafted in 2025, several were injured. Safety Dan Jackson suffered a season-ending leg injury during the preseason. Offensive guard Miles Frazier spent the majority of the year on the PUP list. EDGE Ahmed Hassanein sustained a serious pectoral tear in the preseason. Seventh-round rookie WR Dominic Lovett played a total of 14 special teams snaps.
Describing his draft strategy as “simple,” Holmes selects the best player available who meets the Lions’ criteria and fits the team culture, regardless of positional need. While that may be a sound strategy, two key priorities entering this year’s draft were to replace the loss of offensive guard Kevin Zeitler and find an EDGE to complement Aidan Hutchinson . While Holmes likely didn’t know of Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow’s impending retirement, there was an immediate need to draft a prospect who would be a year-one starter, rather than a developmental project.
Mistake #1: Not Drafting An Offensive Lineman In The First Round
Therefore, a likely first-round target for Holmes might have been North Dakota State guard Grey Zabel . Initially projected to go at number 27, he was selected by the Seattle Seahawks with the 18th pick in the first round. Zabel has lived up to the first-round draft hype. He is an elite pass protector who gave up only 2.0 sacks and four quarterback pressures in 15 games.
However, with Zable off the table, Holmes drafted DT Tyleik Williams with the 28th pick. Perhaps Holmes had him in his sights all along. Or, perhaps, he was the next best available player who met the Lions’ standard. Regardless, despite a slow start, Williams has adapted to Kelvin Sheppard’s defensive scheme, producing 17 tackles (seven solo), one sack, and three pass defenses. Showing impressive promise against the run, Williams will undoubtedly be even better in year two.
Holmes’ best 2025 draft pick was a second-round selection (number 57 overall), OLG Tate Ratledge . Playing 1,015 snaps, Ratledge earned a run block grade of 73.8% from PFF.com and an overall grade of 69.7. Starting all 15 games, he’s allowed only two sacks and 43 pressures. However, with the dual loss of Ragnow and Zeitler, and the injuries that destabilized the Lions’ offensive line, drafting both Zabel and Ratledge together would have been an ideal solution.
Mistake #2: Not Drafting An EDGE In The First Round
Although Detroit had groomed EDGE’s Marcus Davenport and Josh Paschal to play alongside Aidan Hutchinson, a litany of ongoing injuries to both rendered that impossible. Instead of drafting Williams, Holmes might have addressed the Lions’ other priority by selecting EDGE Donavan Ezeiruaku. Taken off the board by the Dallas Cowboys with the 44th overall selection, the 2024 Ted Hendricks Award Winner produced 39 tackles with 19 solo, 2.0 sacks, one safety, 35 quarterback pressures, and a forced fumble.
Instead, Holmes didn’t select an EDGE until the sixth round when he drafted promising young Boise State talent Hassanein with the 196th overall pick. Following his preseason pec tear, he was waived with an injury settlement. Brought back to the practice squad in November, Hassanein hasn’t played a snap in the 2025 season.
Thankfully, the Lions’ 8-year NFL veteran Al-Quadin Muhammad has stepped up to fill the gap. Muhammad has been outstanding for Detroit, logging 12.0 sacks, 52 pressures, and 25 tackles (15 solo). But, in addition to Hutchinson and Muhammad, more depth is needed to cover the position. While Hassanein may become a strong future contributor, he is still a developmental project.
Mistake # 3: Lions Free Agency Fumbles
While the impressive performances of Ratledge and Muhammad have compensated for Holmes’ failure to draft another offensive lineman or EDGE in the first round, Holmes’ biggest error was in free agency. This was a prime opportunity to find veteran talent to shore up roster gaps.
If there is one lesson that new head coach Ben Johnson learned from his tenure in Detroit, it’s that a strong offense begins with a first-rate offensive line. In one of the biggest free agency moves this year, Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles signed Atlanta Falcons ‘ center Drew Dalman to a three-year $42 million contract. The Bears’ offensive line was further solidified when Chicago immediately traded for Kansas City Chiefs guard Joe Thuney and Los Angeles Rams guard Jonah Jackson.
Lions 2025 Free Agent Acquisitions
Holmes’ biggest move in free agency was to sign New York Jets’ cornerback D.J. Reed to a $48 million three-year contract. Acquired to replace the loss of free agent Carlton Davis III, Reed started strong with 43 solo tackles, two interceptions, and a forced fumble. However, in Week 4, he suffered a hamstring injury and spent several weeks out of the lineup. Since his return from IR, he’s earned one of the NFL’s lowest PFF.com grades for allowing 34 receptions in 550 snaps.
Other one-year free agency signings include linebacker Grant Stuard, TE Kenny Yeboah, safety Avonte Maddox , and DL Roy Lopez. Yeboah was lost to a season-ending injury in August. In 391 snaps, Lopez has 19 solo tackles, 2.0 sacks, 12 pressures, and a pass defense to his credit. The five-year NFL veteran has a PFF.com grade of 69.9 and is proving to be one of the biggest assets of the free agency group.
Veteran quarterback Kyle Allen was added as a backup to Jared Goff. Despite the loss of starters Brian Branch , Kerby Joseph , and Terrion Arnold , veteran cornerback Rock Ya-Sin has played well with 34 solo tackles and four pass defenses. He ranks fourth of 111 cornerbacks with only two missed tackles.
One can only wonder what might have been this year if Holmes had gone in a different direction and built up Detroit’s battered offensive line with Dalman or other veteran free agent offensive line talent. The pain of this season will linger. But trust that after Holmes and Campbell conduct a thorough post-mortem, they’ll correct the mistakes that led to this failure. Next year, the Lions will return better, stronger, and hungrier than ever before.