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Detroit Lions fans watch the second half against Philadelphia Eagles. Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Lions Fans Irate About Offensive Struggles, 'Boneheaded Mistakes'

Originally posted on Detroit Lions on SI
By Christian Booher | Last updated Nov 17, 2025 12:48 PM ET

The Detroit Lions had an opportunity to jump up the NFC playoff standings and remain in first-place in the NFC North with a win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

In front of a national audience in primetime, however, the Lions were unable to overcome five failed fourth-down conversion attempts and ultimately lost 16-9 to the defending Super Bowl champions. As a result, the Lions will enter Week 12 outside of the playoff picture at 6-4.

The loss also dropped the Lions to third-place in the NFC North, behind the Green Bay Packers and first-place Chicago Bears who both won on Sunday. Detroit will have opportuities to get back at both teams with matchups late in the year, and currently hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Bears thanks to their Week 2 win.

However, Sunday's game was a big missed opportunity. Defensively, the Lions played at a high level for much of the game and kept the Eagles at bay despite starting in disadvantageous positions due to the offense's failed conversions.

Detroit turned the ball over on downs five times, including once inside Philadelphia’s 5-yard line and once on a failed fake punt.

Quarterback Jared Goff struggled for most of the game, completing 14-of-37 passes for 255 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Wide receiver Amon-Ra St.Brown was also uncharacteristically off, catching just two of his 12 targets for 42 yards.

Entering Sunday's game, the Lions' offense ranked second in the league in scoring. However, they were held to just nine points and one touchdown. The score came in the second quarter on a 40-yard pass from Goff to Jameson Williams.

On the touchdown, Williams was assessed a 15-yard penalty for his celebration. On the ensuing extra point, which turned into a 47-yard attempt, kicker Jake Bates missed through windy conditions.

Lions fans expressed frustration with the decisions made in Sunday’s loss, as Campbell’s aggressiveness did not pay off.

Additionally, fans voiced disappointment with the performance of the team’s offensive line performance. Goff had several passes batted down or deflected, including one that was picked off by Cooper DeJean.

Detroit did a solid job of keeping the Eagles at bay defensively, including a fourth-down stop that set up Bates’ field goal that pulled them within a score in the fourth quarter. However, the effort wasn’t enough.

On the game’s final possession, Detroit’s victory hopes officially ended when Rock Ya-Sin was whistled for pass interference.

Here is a sample of the online reaction to the Lions' 16-9 loss to the Eagles on Sunday.

We now have a large enough sample size to know who Dan Campbell and Jared Goff are in big games. The sad part is we may have the greatest RB combo in history who are completely underutilized, a great defense who has too great a burden put on them.....
— Andrew Prater (@aprater3223) November 17, 2025

I’m good. Dan made some boneheaded mistakes with calls. We had at least 6 drops. A missed PAT after humping the goal post. And just for good measure. A OPI mistakingly called DPI just to keep the @Lions from getting the ball back. Yea I’m ok these can be fixed.
— Aj Evanoski (@PALionBlood) November 17, 2025

Absolutely not. Bad play calls, none of our receivers had hands apparently. Our sb window was when we played the niners. We will be a good team but wont win anything important. We also played these guys a lot of money and our offense has looked awful.
— allesandra (@allysantorino) November 17, 2025

That game was winnable. Yes the Eagles DL impacted that game crazy but I also wouldn't bank on nearly 6 PBUs from them if we were to play again
I love Dans aggressiveness but I feel as if he was playing into our superpower which is no longer there. Need to be more conservative
— Achlios (@Achlios) November 17, 2025

It just comes down to your weaknesses getting exposed by a championship team…

Lions moved the ball into Philly territory, but it simply came down to 3rd/4th down and the OLine got exposed… Goff needs a clean pocket (unfortunately) and it resulted in an inability to execute
— Whoever Can Close A Game Fan Club (@Jack_theJaysfan) November 17, 2025

They may not even make the playoffs. Anyone talking about them winning the super bowl is high at this point.
— Brand New Lions! Grit & Determination (@Lions_2786) November 17, 2025

Can’t do anything of value when Goff is under assault all game. Goff wasn’t that good when he had even moments. Receivers were completely out of sync from their usual selves (not all though). Bad play calls.

A sad waste of a good defensive performance missing several starters.
— A Happy Michigan Sports Fan (@DepressedMichi1) November 17, 2025

Negative, its pretty clear this Oline is horrid. Sucks cause the defense has been great. Frank doesn't retire and I honestly think it's our year.
— El Duderino (@dudeluzi) November 17, 2025

This game falls on Dan. Offense/Goff was playing terribly, going for it over and over again is not encouraging. Put points on the board and leave it to your defense which was having a great game. I understand this is who he is but you have to read the game as it's going.
— Totally Kyle (@Letspetdogs) November 17, 2025

The o-line sucked—we all watched it and it sucked. It sucked very very much and very very hard…

…but we can’t keep pretending that Goff isn’t a huge part of the issue
— Will Morrison (@eatindubyas) November 17, 2025

This article first appeared on Detroit Lions on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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