Surprise! Defense hasn’t carried the Detroit Lions as expected

It’s all on the line

This Lions defense has so many positives going for it, that it seems hard to believe that Matt Patricia and his staff won’t get things fixed. Regardless of who they have had on the field, they have fought hard and given opposing offenses everything they could handle.

Sure they’ve frequently bent this season, but they haven’t broken much and it took one of the leagues elite offenses to hand them their first loss. And it didn’t come easy. Just ask Patrick Mahomes.

In an article published on Heavy.com this past Monday, Mahomes gives credit specifically to the Detroit Lions for their loss to the Indianapolis Colts. In it, Mahomes was quoted as crediting the Lions’ game plan for making him and the Chiefs offense uncomfortable.

"“Detroit did it last week, New England did it in the playoffs. We’re going to have to beat man coverage at the end of the day. We’ve got the guys to do it, so now it’s just about going out there and executing whenever teams present it to us.”"

This type of kudos doesn’t stop there. Last season the New England Patriots credited the Lions game plan against the Rams in the regular season for being the basis of their plan against the Rams in the Super Bowl.

The game may not have been an offensive explosion, but the Patriots slowed the Rams almost to a halt and won the game.

The Lions reside in the NFC North which is the only division in the NFL without a team with a losing record and by most experts is considered the toughest division in the game this year. It was also a division that was won by the Bears last year who sported an outstanding defense.

Defense matters. Defense wins championships and the Lions will need to be better on that side of the ball. The question is how? The answer really is under our noses. The defensive line needs to get healthy and play very close to, if not at their peak level to give them that final piece they need to really start imposing their will on opponents.

The lack of a pass-rush in the fourth quarter against the  Cardinals cost them and a more consistent pass-rush against the Chiefs would have secured victory for the Lions. Just look at what the Colts defensive line did with consistent pressure on Mahomes while utilizing Matt Patricia’s blueprint.

These Lions are hovering very close to being a really good team. It all comes down to the trenches. If the offensive line can continue to improve and the defensive line can get healthy and start producing, then these Lions are going to produce plenty of wins.

Then maybe opposing teams will start getting less anxious to see the Lions on their schedule. Like maybe starting tomorrow night in Green Bay.