The 2011 New York Giants had one of the best defensive lines in football that season. Jason Pierre-Paul, Chris Canty, Justin Tuck, and Linval Joseph combined for 27.5 sacks on the season, with Pierre-Paul providing a whopping 16.5 of those sacks.
We know what those Giants did - they trudged along to the Super Bowl against a then-undefeated New England Patriots squad, and trounced them. It was an otherworldly takedown of peak Tom Brady, and a lot of their success had to do with how disruptive their defensive line was.
But, they also had a disruptive secondary to boot. 16 interceptions combined between their four starting cornerbacks in Corey Webster, Aaron Ross, Kenny Phillips, and Antrel Rolle added to that formidable defense, and helped them become Super Bowl champions.
While the Detroit Lions have quite the defensive line headed into this season, their secondary doesn't match up with their hype. This is an area that'll need to be addressed sooner rather than later, before the team ends up overly reliant on their D-line to save the day.
Detroit must address lack of help in their secondary to become contenders
The Lions' top defender right now is Aidan Hutchinson, whose "bounce back" season resulted in 14.5 sacks and four forced fumbles. DJ Wonnum and Derrick Moore are the new faces added to the line to help with their pass rush, and their tackles seemed ready to run through a wall throughout the preseason.
Can the Lions simply utilize their defensive line to make up for their deficiencies in their secondary? Well, it should act as a stopgap against their regular season schedule, which consists of many teams that finished their 2025 even worse off than the Lions. Weaker opponents should allow for them to mask their issues against the pass game, as their D-line should be dominant.
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Of course, this is likely not sustainable against their NFC North rivals, nor in the postseason. They'll need to be able to defend all over the field to support their offense, which could have their hands full against defenses like that of the Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, and others.
There's never been a better time for the Lions to make a move to land a starting cornerback instead of riding things out with the hope that one of Rock Ya-Sin or Ennis Rakestraw Jr. take sizable leaps. This could help them not only to contend this year, but to preserve the health of their defensive line.
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