Jared Goff has completed 74.9 percent of his passes with 15 touchdowns and three interceptions in seven games. Gregory Shamus / Getty Images

Dan Campbell had an inkling of what narratives could be on the horizon, well before the season arrived.

"It's already been written, so that's coming," Campbell said on the first day of training camp, when asked about his new coordinators and how the Lions will adjust. "That's already a narrative. I'm not going to change that, none of us will. A loss, its coming, we don't do well on offense, its coming. Something happens defensively, it's coming. That narrative is coming.

"If you're asking me personally, yeah, I don't think it's what it's played out to be."

Campbell's been proven right -- at least through seven games. As we wrote last week, defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard is off to a hot start. John Morton isn't too far behind, which was the expectation given the talent at his disposal and his familiarity with this offense having been a senior offensive assistant in 2022.

The Lions rank third in scoring offense (30.7), fifth in yards per play (5.9), sixth in EPA per play (0.09), seventh in offensive success rate (48.8 percent) and ninth in yards per game (357.3). They once again have the look of one of the league's best units. Let's take a closer look.

All stats from TruMedia and PFF, from Weeks 1-7 unless specified otherwise.

Coming into the season, there was talk about how Jared Goff would look without Ben Johnson in his ear. Goff's successes have often been attributed to coaching, at least nationally, playing for two of the best play callers in the league in Sean McVay and Johnson. However, this offense remains lethal in 2025. Goff has a lot to do with that.

This season, Goff has thrown for 1,631 yards, 15 touchdowns and just three interceptions through seven games. He's completing 74.9 percent of his pass attempts (second) with a passer rating of 116.4 (third) and an EPA dropback of 0.22 (sixth). He's off to another strong start in an offense that maximizes his skill set and Goff has taken ownership of this unit in his 10th NFL season. He can make high-level reads at the line of scrimmage and routinely gets this group into the right looks. Give Goff credit for keeping things humming.

How about Goff's target distribution? Amon-Ra St. Brown, as you'd imagine, has been the focal point of the pass game. He has 50 receptions (fifth) for 538 yards (fifth) and seven receiving touchdowns (first). He's been targeted 61 times, which ranks 10th, and his reception rate of 82 percent ranks sixth among wide receivers. He's on his way to another All-Pro season.

Third-year tight end Sam LaPorta is off to a good start. After an injury-riddled 2024 campaign, LaPorta is on target for a season that closer resembles his rookie year. He's on pace for 70 receptions, 823 yards and five touchdowns. Through Week 7, LaPorta ranks ninth in receptions (29) and fourth in receiving yards (339) among tight ends.

If there's something to nitpick about the passing offense, though, it's that the Lions haven't consistently gotten Jameson Williams the ball. Williams has two or fewer receptions in five of his seven games. His reception rate of 56.7 percent ranks 59th among 76 qualified receivers. He's on pace for 41 receptions for 702 yards and five touchdowns. That's after Morton said he expected a breakout year from Williams, and after the team signed him to a lucrative contract extension.

Williams' impact on this offense goes beyond the box score, as his speed opens up opportunities for others around him. That will never change as long as all these parts are working together. Goff rarely forces throws when he doesn't like the look, and as teams look to take away Williams' long speed, that means his game will inherently have some boom or bust to it. That said, it's on Morton to dial up more opportunities for Williams that don't necessitate deep shots and time in the pocket. It's something to monitor after the bye.

How well has the pass protection held up? The Lions have allowed the ninth-lowest pressure rate at 33.9 percent. They've allowed the 12th-fewest sacks per game, and their sack rate of 6.0 percent ranks 15th. Those numbers are better when left tackle Taylor Decker, nursing a shoulder injury, is on the field. The Lions rank top 10 in sacks per game allowed (ninth) and sack rate (10th) when Decker plays.

Penei Sewell has allowed just six total pressures -- tied for the seventh-fewest among 66 qualified tackles from Weeks 1 through 7 (minimum 200 blocking snaps). Decker has allowed 11 pressures -- 22nd among the group. Veteran Graham Glasgow has held his own in pass protection, allowing just eight pressures -- tied for 17th among 33 qualified centers.

The Lions are also breaking in two first-year starting guards in Christian Mahogany and Tate Ratledge. How have they fared in pass protection? Mahogany has allowed 12 pressures (36th), while Ratledge has allowed 14 (46th) among 64 qualified guards. The hope is that they'll settle in as the season progresses.

The Lions have scored the second-most rushing touchdowns in the league with 10 and rank fifth in rushing yards per game at 133.71 -- placing the Lions in a familiar spot among the top five rushing offenses.

Those are the surface numbers, though. What do the advanced metrics tell us about this rushing attack in the post-Frank Ragnow/Ben Johnson era? Let's take a look.

The Lions rank 13th in yards per rush at 4.5, 15th in EPA per rush and 18th in explosive rush rate (runs of 12 or more yards) at 6.8 percent. Of Detroit's rush attempts, 49.3 percent have had rushers hit at or behind the line of scrimmage -- 21st in the NFL. Finally, the Lions rank 25th in offensive rushing success rate at 36.3 percent. They were top 10 in all of those categories a year ago.

So, what's the deal between the per-game rushing average and these metrics? Has game-flow factored into those totals? The Lions rank 15th in fourth-quarter rushes per game, so it's not like they're bleeding out the clock with rush attempts when they have a late lead. Are they seeing more stacked boxes? Yes and no. They've faced eight or more men in the box on 47.8 percent of their rush attempts -- fourth-highest in the NFL. They ranked fifth in 2024 at 43.1 percent. A higher rate, but a similar ranking among the 32 teams.

What can we gather from additional context?

For starters, Decker has missed two games and hasn't been close to 100 percent at any point, as he learns how to navigate a lingering shoulder injury that has kept him out of practice most weeks. The Lions have overseen a transition from Ragnow to Glasgow at center, while incorporating young starters in at guard. Additionally, the Lions have faced three of the top-10 units in defensive rushing success rate -- the Browns (No. 1), Bucs (No. 3) and Packers (No. 10) -- through their first seven games.

That Packers game, in particular, was a disaster for a number of reasons. It was Week 1 and the inexperience of the line, paired with some communication issues, showed on film. The Lions said they'd get it corrected, and to their credit, they have.

Since that Green Bay game, the metrics have been kinder. From Weeks 2 through 7, when looking at rush attempts where Decker has been on the field, the Lions rank first in yards per rush (5.4), second in EPA per rush and 12th in explosive rush rate. Their percentage of rushes hit at or behind the line of scrimmage ranking jumps from 21st to 14th, while their offensive rushing success rate jumps from 25th to 17th.

The Lions aren't running with the same efficiency as in years past. That said, there's been a commitment to the run under Morton -- who doesn't shy away from tough matchups. The Lions have managed to retool their offensive line on the fly -- something that's hard to do in the NFL. We've already seen growth from Detroit's two young guards, who've more than held their own as interior run blockers. The Ratledge-Sewell right side has been particularly effective in the run game, and Mahogany has had some really nice moments as a run-blocker. As they continue to gain experience and Decker learns how to manage his shoulder injury, the underlying rushing metrics should improve.

Individually, Jahmyr Gibbs ranks fifth in the league in rushing with 526 yards and is tied for third in rushing touchdowns with six. He and David Montgomery (355 rushing yards) are averaging a healthy 5.1 and 4.6 yards per rush. The Lions have been open about wanting to get Montgomery more involved, but he's faced the highest rate of stacked boxes among qualified running backs at 59 percent, compared to Gibbs' 41.3 percent (20th). He remains an excellent complementary back. That said, this has become Gibbs' backfield.

We'll end with a few quick-hitters, with some situational football mixed in.

* Red zone and goal-to-go: The Lions rank third in the league in red zone efficiency, scoring touchdowns on 72.4 percent of their red zone drives (21-of-29). The team ranks ninth in goal-to-go efficiency at 81.3 percent (13-of-16).

* Third down: The Lions rank 20th in third-down conversion rate at 37.6 percent. They ranked fourth in 2024 at 47.6 percent. That's a sharp decline.

* Fourth-down decisions: The Lions have a go-for-it rate of 26 percent, which ranks ninth in the NFL. However, the Lions rank fourth in decision EPA at 7.6. That means Campbell's fourth-down decisions have netted the Lions 7.6 expected points.

* Explosive plays: The Lions rank 13th in the NFL with an explosive play rate of 10.8 percent. Their explosive run rate of 6.8 percent ranks 18th, while their explosive pass rate of 14.7 percent ranks seventh.

* Play action: The Lions have once again been one of the most efficient offenses on play-action attempts. It's a marriage that works well for the personnel at their disposal. The threat of the run allows a quarterback like Goff to rip it on play-action passes when the defense caves in, expecting a run. As a result, the Lions rank third in the NFL in passer rating (132.4), third in EPA/attempt, fourth in completion percentage (77 percent) and fourth in touchdowns (6) on play-action pass attempts. However, the Lions are using play-action less than they did in 2024. They rank 15th in play-action usage this year (15.8 percent), after ranking first a year ago (20.2 percent).

* Against the blitz: Goff is one of the better quarterbacks against the blitz. He does an excellent job of reading defenses and checking into the right protections before the snap. As a result, he owns the second-best EPA/DB (0.46) and the fifth-highest passer rating (125.7) when blitzed.

* When pressured: For as good as Goff is at identifying blitzers, when he faces pressure, he still tends to struggle more than most. When teams generate pressure without blitzing, Goff's EPA/DB (-0.49) and passer rating (55.6) each rank 24th among 34 qualified quarterbacks.

For all the talk about how this unit might look, it is right where it's supposed to be. The offense is averaging nearly 31 points per game through its first seven games. They've done a good job capitalizing in the red zone and coming away with touchdowns when their defense sets them up with advantageous field position. You'd like to see more of guys like Williams and Montgomery, but the matchup-proof players on this offense are Gibbs and St. Brown, and we've seen Morton lean on his star players -- particularly in the red zone.

You'll often hear coaches talk about self-scouting during the bye week. Curious to hear from Morton and Campbell about their findings, because it's hard to nitpick one of the league's top scoring offenses. They're off to a strong start, though, and that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who knows how these Lions were built.

Analyzing the Detroit Lions' offense at the bye: Goff sharp leading high-scoring unit