The Detroit Lions faced arguably their biggest test of the 2026 season with a visit from the rival Green Bay Packers, and came through with a close 20-17 victory fueled by their offense and defense coming through late.
Earlier this season, there has been a narrative that the Lions defense is a pushover. Statistically, that has been the case relative to some of the performances they have sustained. Just before their bye, the Lions seemed to find something with a strong game and a win against the Arizona Cardinals.
Detroit's big resurgence continued. The Lions held the Green Bay Packers down most of the day, and prevented them from being explosive in the red zone. They also caused a turnover at a key point in the game. While the stats may not have been elite, there has still been a notable turnaround.
That led NFL.com to make a claim that folks would have found absurd just a few weeks back. Following the win, one of the site's biggest lessons from the game was that the Detroit defense suddenly isn't terrible.
"Detroit entered the game with the NFL's worst pass defense. While it still allowed Love to throw for 274 yards and two TDs, it wasn’t as easy as some passers have found it against the Lions. Detroit’s defense stepped up in spots, forcing the first-drive field goal, turning the Packers over on downs in the red zone, forcing two three-and-outs and getting a stop after Dan Campbell’s decision to go for it from his own 24."
"Brian Branch’s return helped, as the safety netted the fourth-quarter interception. Branch played 43 snaps in his return (66.2%). Most of the Packers' pass production came against the linebackers, with Jack Campbell and Derrick Barnes combining to allow 127 yards and two TDs in coverage. They still have strides to make, but given where they were early in the season, count Sunday as a significant step."
Detroit's defense was bad to start the year, but have turned things around abruptly for plenty of reasons. PFN even had the Lions as a top 10 defense last week. Brian Branch's return is a big reason why this is the case, and now the group has the hope of putting something together that can lead to a strong midseason run.
Just a few weeks ago, few would have assumed the Lions could have won a game based on their defense. They were beyond terrible. Now, that notion is finally starting to change in a big way.
Dan Campbell praises the quality turnaround of his Lions' defense
Even though it's been a long road to try and get to this point, one man who never lacked faith in the Lions was Campbell. From the start, he was standing with his defense, and now it appears he has been rewarded with the major turnaround he had hoped for.
As Campbell said, he liked what he saw from Detroit's defense across the board, and believes they are finally turning a corner that can lead to some big winning.
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"I thought that was a really good outing. That's two weeks in a row. I feel like our defense is playing pretty good football now. Gaining a lot of confidence. Our coverage units, much improved. All of those guys stepped up and played pretty good for us. We looked like we played as one unit. We were disruptive up front. I thought (Aidan) Hutchinson's sack early in that game was big. Just kind of set the tone a little bit and it was good to see."
"(We) knocked out the run and really kind of kept that pass game down considerably from what they've been doing all year. We were efficient in that regard had an opportunity for three other interceptions. So that was good. We were good in the red zone. I was proud of those guys."
There's little doubt Campbell would agree with the notion that his defense isn't bad. At this point, the biggest question revolves around how long they can keep this roll going. The hope is that they can use these performances as a launching pad for bigger and better things.
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