Lions receiver Calvin Johnson scored three touchdowns in Week 1. He has 12 touchdowns vs. Green Bay.

Green Bay — There's a new coaching administration in Detroit, with Beloit native Jim Caldwell having succeeded Jim Schwartz.

It remains to be seen, however, if the Lions have the right stuff to capture their first NFC North Division championship ever and what would be their first division title since the coach Wayne Fontes-led Detroiters claimed the old NFC Central in 1993.

"I don't know if they're going to get it going with Caldwell," an assistant coach for a recent Lions opponent said Tuesday. "I was never a big Caldwell fan, to be honest with you.

"They kind of look like what they've been. But he hasn't had them very long."

The Lions are favored by 1 point to defeat the Green Bay Packers on Sunday at Ford Field in an NFC North matchup of 1-1 teams.

"I like Detroit, 31-27," an AFC personnel man said. "These are two well-tuned offenses and I expect a lot of drives and points. Detroit has a good 1-2 punch in the backfield with (Reggie) Bush and (Joique) Bell. I give Detroit the edge because of pass rush."

Caldwell, 59, went 28-24 in three seasons coaching the Indianapolis Colts after being promoted from quarterbacks coach in 2009. He led the Colts to the Super Bowl that first year.

Schwartz, 29-52 from 2009-'13, restored some respectability to what had been the laughingstock of the league. He was undone by a perceived lack of personal and team discipline and an 0-4 finish last season that cost the Lions a division crown.

Sunday in Carolina, the Lions fumbled three times and turned the ball over three times. The Panthers, who weren't overly impressive but had no turnovers, took advantage for a 24-7 victory.

"There's still some remnants of that Jim Schwartz regime," the coach said. "Guys are still a little undisciplined and are turning the ball over. They're probably a little bit better than they've been."

The Packers under coach Mike McCarthy have owned the Lions. He's 14-2 against Detroit, and in the defeats Aaron Rodgers either didn't play because of a broken collarbone (November 2013) or was knocked out shortly before halftime because of a concussion (December 2010).

Both of those Lions' victories, 7-3 four years ago and 40-10 last Thanksgiving, were played at Ford Field.

"They just play a lot better at home than they do on the road," the coach said. "But if I had to put money on it I'd put money on Green Bay.

"The Lions have a lot of weapons. They've stopped the run well.

"But they're a little (nicked) up in the secondary and Green Bay's pass offense is a lot better than Carolina's is. I'd go with Green Bay, 31-28."

OFFENSE

SCHEME

Joe Lombardi, the play-calling coordinator, has incorporated significant elements of the stylish New Orleans' offense for which he served as QB coach from 2009-'13. Vince was his grandfather. Rather than shotgun-and-spread all the time, the Lions now employ a fullback and actually put the quarterback under center frequently. Lombardi uses bunches of receivers, likes a versatile screen game and prefers a more short-to-intermediate passing game.

RECEIVERS

In his first three or four seasons, there were games in which Al Harris and Tramon Williams frustrated Calvin Johnson (6-5, 236) and the Lions' weak offenses. Today, "Megatron" is a more confident and powerful force almost immune to press corners nipping at his heels. He's hard to redirect, tough to drag down and next to impossible to catch from behind. The Lions paid Golden Tate (5-10½, 202) $13.25 million guaranteed to give Johnson a legitimate sidekick. Tate looks like a running back, makes people miss with a spin move and runs hard. He lacks field-stretching speed but has tremendous tracking ability and ball skills. Former Packer Jeremy Ross (6-0, 215) is No. 3 ahead of speedster Corey Fuller (6-2½, 200). Ross' background as a RB makes him a threat on screens and gadget plays. TEs Brandon Pettigrew (6-5½, 275), Joseph Fauria (6-7½, 267) and rookie Eric Ebron (6-4½, 265) all play extensively. Pettigrew, a six-year starter, is a solid in-line blocker and appealing medium-range target. Fauria has great hands, runs well for his size and is a red-zone threat on fades. He isn't a blocker. Ebron, the 10th pick, is fast and talented but, at just 21, hasn't made much impact.

OFFENSIVE LINE

LT Riley Reiff (6-5½, 313), LG Rob Sims (6-2½, 312), C Dominic Raiola (6-2, 310) and RG Larry Warford (6-6, 330) have started together since 2013. Uncertainty lingers at RT, where LaAdrian Waddle (6-6, 330) is questionable with a calf injury that has sidelined him since the fifth play of the opener and co-starter Corey Hilliard (foot) is on temporary injured reserve. Garrett Reynolds (6-7½, 305) started there Sunday against Carolina and had a long day. A 23-game starter at RG for Atlanta from 2009-'13, Reynolds is a waist-bender with limited athleticism and strength. He is feisty. Waddle, an eight-game starter as a rookie, tries to get by using his long arms (35 5/8 inches). Warford, a third-round pick in '13, and Reiff, the 23rd pick in '12, are the best players. Warford likes to maul in close quarters and has been surprisingly proficient in protection. Arm length hinders Reiff, a technically sound protector who still gets walked back too often. Raiola, a 13-year starter/enforcer, has lost lateral slide but is playing heavier now and isn't off his feet as much. Sims, a 105-game starter, had a rough go against the Panthers but has OK feet and generally does a competent job.

QUARTERBACKS

Matthew Stafford (6-2½, 230) excelled in an opening 35-14 victory over the Giants but was back to chuckin' and duckin' late against Carolina's heavy rush. Lombardi and coach Jim Caldwell have worked to limit Stafford's sidearm, back-foot passes and overthrown balls into crowds that have led to excessive turnovers. When in rhythm, he can drive the deep out and 22-yard digs with anyone in the game. He's slightly underrated as an athlete. He's smart (35 on the Wonderlic intelligence test), once ran 4.85 and owns a career passer rating of 83.5. Returning as No. 2 is Dan Orlovsky (6-5, 218), who made seven of his 12 career starts in a 10-year career for the winless Lions of '08. His rating is 76.0.

RUNNING BACKS

Reggie Bush (5-11, 205) and Joique Bell (5-11, 229) are splitting snaps and touches. Bush, 29, showed his still sensational speed on an 86-yard TD run Aug. 22 against Jacksonville. Once an east-west prancer, he gets north-south in a jiffy and will lower a shoulder. He's a great receiver, too. Bell's two fumbles in Carolina followed a fumble in the opener and fumbling woes earlier in his career. He's slow (4.69) but also tough and hard to tackle. Former Saint regular Jed Collins (6-1, 252) is an old-fashioned FB. He's a better blocker than receiver.

DEFENSE

SCHEME

First-year coordinator Teryl Austin was Baltimore's secondary coach from 2011-'13. Unlike predecessor Gunther Cunningham, he has blitzed more DBs. What isn't much changed is the stunting, slanting 4-3 front. Most of the D-linemen charge from four-point stances as taught by holdover coaches Jim Washburn and Kris Kocurek.

DEFENSIVE LINE

The only new starter is LE Jason Jones (6-5, 275,) a former Titan-Seahawk whose Detroit debut in '13 was cut short (knee injury). He isn't as fast as the departed Cliff Avril or Willie Young but has first-step quickness and can shorten the corner. His athleticism and long arms (36 3/8 inches) make him a dangerous interior rusher, too. Ziggy Ansah (6-5, 278), the fifth pick in '13, is one of the game's brightest young DEs. With 4.63 speed and 35 1/8 arms, he's a quick-twitch rusher with grit and elusiveness at the point. LT Ndamukong Suh (6-4, 305), with 28 sacks in 65 games, and RT Nick Fairley (6-4, 308) are among the NFL's very best interior tandems. Suh has superb speed (5.08), remarkable strength and a mean, violent streak that has made him a player some fans love to hate. Having lost weight, Fairley has been consistently disrupting plays in the backfield. He's long-armed (34¾) and fast (4.85). DT C.J. Mosley (6-2, 312), merely a 23-game starter for five teams over 10 years, survives because he's quick off the snap and is a consummate competitor. All three DTs have had problems against combo blocks in the run game. DEs George Johnson (6-4½, 263) and Devin Taylor 6-7, 275) are valuable spares. Johnson, a one-time Viking, has been harassing QBs since camp began with bull rushes and quickness. He enters at LE in nickel. Taylor, a fourth-round pick in '13, is hard to handle because of 36-inch arms.

LINEBACKERS

OLB DeAndre Levy (6-2, 235), the former Milwaukee Vincent and Badgers standout, and MLB Stephen Tulloch (5-10½, 245) both have played all 127 snaps in Weeks 1-2. Each year, Levy seems to improve. With 4.55 speed, he can run and hit all over the field. He's also a ballhawk (12 interceptions) who has become much harder to fool since arriving as a third-round pick in '09. Tulloch, a Titans starter from 2008-'10, is a much better player than athlete. He calls signals (Wonderlic of 28), is a jarring, sure tackler and is adequate in coverage. It has been a revolving door at the other berth for five years. The starter now is Tahir Whitehead (6-1½, 242), a fifth-round pick in '12 who didn't play a snap from scrimmage in his first two years. Whitehead is fast enough (4.63) to run and cover but gets knocked around at the point of attack.

SECONDARY

After releasing CB Chris Houston on June 13, the Lions needed Darius Slay (6-0, 192) to come on after a mediocre rookie year. Slay, a second-round pick, is playing with more confidence and understanding. He's fast (4.34), leaps well and will hit. He just isn't a quick study. By default, former Jaguar Pro Bowler Rashean Mathis (6-0½, 195) is back starting at RC. Now 34, he blew out his knee in mid-2011, played poorly in '12 and then fared OK as a 13-game starter for the desperate Lions. He plays with veteran's savvy but struggles at the ball and in chase situations. It's a total mess at nickel back, where Bill Bentley blew a knee in Week 1 and replacement Nevin Lawson suffered season-ending toe injuries in Week 2. Former Colt Cassius Vaughn (5-10, 195) and S-CB Don Carey (5-11½, 203) lack speed but will try to fill in. FS Glover Quin (5-11, 206), the glue of the back end, is a complete player. Hard-hitting SS James Ihedigbo (6-0½, 217), a Ravens starter in '13, should return after a month layoff (neck). If not, Isa Abdul-Quddus (5-11½, 200), better playing pass than run, would start again.

SPECIAL TEAMS

K Nate Freese has been dreadful. P-KO man Sam Martin is a plus. Jeremy Ross returned with pizzazz against Carolina but also lost a fumble. The units coached by John Bonamego, a former Packers aide, are led by FB Montell Owens.

GAME-BREAKER

In 49 games since the start of the 2011 season, the per-game average for Calvin Johnson is 6.7 receptions, 114.2 yards and 0.8 touchdowns. In five games against the Packers from 2011-'13, his norms are 7.2 catches for 131 yards and 0.8 TDs. In 12 career games against Green Bay, he has averaged 5.9 catches, 96.9 yards and 1.0 TDs. Two games into this season he has caught 13 of 24 targeted passes for 247 yards (19.0) and two scores. Not yet 29, "Megatron" is tied for 36th in receiving TDs (68), 44th in yards (9,575) and 72nd in receptions (585).

WEAKEST LINK

Naturally it's right tackle, where the Lions aren't sure if second-year free agent LaAdrian Waddle will be back from a calf injury to prevent them from having to start converted G Garrett Reynolds for another game. Since scouts began picking the all-division team for the Journal Sentinel, the Lions have had 11 different starters at right tackle since 1997. Just two, Stockar McDougle in 2002 and Gosder Cherilus in '10, finished first at RT. The nine also-rans were Larry Tharpe, Tony Ramirez, Barrett Brooks, Aaron Gibson, Matt Joyce, Kelly Butler, Rex Tucker, George Foster and Waddle.

McGINN'S VIEW

For 21 seasons, Jason Hanson gave the Detroit Lions the best any NFL team could hope for from a kicker. The Lions' decision to trade up with Dallas in 1992 and draft Hanson with the 56th pick was one of their best personnel decisions ever.

Since January 2013, the Lions have turned a position of ultimate stability into constant turmoil.

Though Hanson was 42, he had made 32 of 36 field-goal attempts in 2012 and hoped to play at least another year. But when the Lions didn't make it worth his while by reportedly offering a minimum-salary deal, he retired.

Veteran David Akers, coming off a bad season in San Francisco, beat out Norwegian Internet kicking sensation Havard Rugland. Akers made 19 of 24, missing from 47, 47, 34, 45 and 31 yards. Deposed coach Jim Schwartz probably could have used a few of those kicks.

On Jan. 1, the Lions signed Giorgio Tavecchio. My immediate thought was, they've solved their kicking problem.

Tavecchio made 86.4% of his attempts as a Packers free agent in the summer of 2013 compared to Mason Crosby's 80%. His diminutive size might have hurt him in a Wisconsin winter, but he was made for Ford Field.

Observers said Tavecchio definitely out-kicked rookie Nate Freese, a seventh-round draft choice from Boston College. But Freese, who as a draft pick would be given the benefit of the doubt, anyway, booted a 55-yarder off the dirt infield in Oakland on Aug. 15.

Tavecchio was cut, went to the Raiders on waivers and drilled a pair of 47-yarders in the exhibition finale before being cut again.

Freese has been a disaster in two games, missing from 43, 49 and 49 against makes from 28 and 27. He also missed a cluster of kicks Sunday during pregame warmups in Carolina.

"I don't think he's salvageable," an NFL special-teams coach said after watching tape of Freese. "He's probably at the point where if he misses another one they're going to pull the plug on him. It's going to be tough because there's a lot of pressure now and not a lot of experience."

In 2012, the 49ers would have been better off keeping Tavecchio as a rookie rather than Akers, who went 29 of 42. At least the Lions can rectify their mistake by bringing back Tavecchio, who conveniently remains on the street.