We hear it all the time: The more reps a young player takes in this league, the more the game starts to slow down for them.
It's the one thing Lions run game coordinator and offensive line coach Hank Fraley noticed the most about second-year right guard Tate Ratledge’s game when he returned for OTAs in the spring. That, and Ratledge's dedication to playing with more consistent pad level.
"His mind and playing the game faster without thinking," Fraley said. "The speed of the game has slowed down for him. That's one that initially showed up in OTAs. Doing it without thinking and reacting."
There were a couple things Fraley and Ratledge talked about after his rookie season Fraley wanted to see improvements on, and Ratledge took those things to heart.
Anyone who's ever wrestled knows leverage is key and the lower person typically wins when all other things are equal. It's the same with offensive and defensive line play. Trying to move these ultra-skilled defensive linemen takes a tremendous amount of good technique and leverage.
At 6-foot-6, Ratledge is one of the tallest guards in the game and playing with good leverage will always be something he has to be conscious of. He said he was terrible at it in the Carolina game but has been pretty good in his other four starts.
"It's just a conscious effort," Ratledge said. "Definitely more consistent. Of course, it's going to have to improve every week and keep getting more consistent. There's some plays during the game where it's like, 'I wish I had that back because it ended up being because of high pads.'"
Ratledge is one-fifth of a young, ascending offensive line in Detroit that's become the top-ranked unit in football in the latest Pro Football Focus O-line ranking. Both he and left guard Christian Mahogany are graded in the Top 20 among all NFL guards. Both rank in the Top 10 in pass blocking.
Ratledge has played 212 pass-block reps and hasn't allowed a sack or quarterback hit. He's allowed just four hurries total all season.
"You just look at it, and his pad level has shown out better," Fraley said. "Pass protection is pretty stout. Everything we talked about, he really attacked in the offseason and it's starting to show up."
Ratledge had his fair share of rookie bumps, but he settled into his role. He's taken another step early in Year 2 and his play, along with the play of Mahogany, Penei Sewell, Juice Scruggs and Blake Miller is a big reason why the Lions' offense is back to being one of the most explosive and versatile in the NFL.
BIG CHALLENGE
Detroit's secondary is coming off their best game of the season Week 5 in Arizona, but Green Bay's offense provides a different challenge than the Cardinals, especially in the passing game.
The Packers have the second-most completions of 20-plus yards this season at 24 with the average distance of those being 34.5 yards, third-longest. Packers quarterback Jordan Love has attempted the most passes in the NFL that travel at least 20-plus yards in the air with a 110.8 passer rating on those attempts.
Wide receivers Christian Watson (18.6) and Matthew Golden (16.7) both rank in the top six in the NFL in average yards per reception and have over 500 receiving yards on the year.
"It presents some big challenges because these aren't just guys that can track the ball down. They have got speed now. I mean, they have got speed and they can track the ball, and the quarterback gives them a nice pretty ball, man, lays it out there," Lions head coach Dan Campbell said. "And really about 50 percent of these are either DPI or catches, talk about explosive. So, that's the danger in it."
Cornerback Roger McCreary recorded six tackles and defended six passes – tied for the most in franchise history – in the win over Arizona on Oct. 11. He knows the Packers will challenge Detroit's defense vertically, and that also opens opportunities to make plays. He emphasized that it's something the players in the secondary are used to seeing going against Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams in practice every day.
"We just have to continue that same energy from Arizona," McCreary said Tuesday. "It's going to be another challenge. Maybe a bigger challenge. It's just about limiting them and slowing them down. Limiting the game they want to play. That's how I look at it."
EXTRA POINTS
-The Packers come to Ford Field ranked in the top 10 in scoring and total defense. They've held opponents to under 200 yards passing (193.3) per game, but the statistic that really stands out is the NFL-leading nine interceptions and 11 takeaways total, which is tied for the league lead.
Detroit's offense has given the ball away just once this season - the fewest in the league through Week 6. Quarterback Jared Goff has zero interceptions.
"Yeah, they're really good at playing the ball in the air. They have good ball skills," Goff said Tuesday of Green Bay's defense. "Again, their corners are great as well, but those five guys in the middle play really well together and you can tell they move in unison together and very visual on the quarterback and do a good job getting in passing lanes and getting their hands on the ball. And then they pass rush well too, which makes it hard as well."
-Campbell said Tuesday veteran safety Kerby Joseph is in a good spot in his recovery from a knee injury that's prevented him from playing since Week 6 of last season. Campbell said he expects Joseph to be back on the field at some point this season.
"He's doing a good job. I'm not going to give you a timetable, but I've been pleased with where he's at," Campbell said. "He's in a good head space right now, which is great because that's hard. You're coming off this, you're wanting to go and you're working at it, and at some point, it's time for football. We all know that and recognize it, but we'll take it one day at a time."
-The Lions are the only team in the NFL to have scored 25-plus points in all their games and the only team to have 350-plus total yards in all their games in 2026. Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing has this offense playing good football to start the season.
