The Detroit Lions spent the entire Thursday night game playing from behind the Buffalo Bills.
That might be a trend we see continue throughout the year. Detroit’s defense looked porous on all three levels in Buffalo.
The oft-maligned secondary had poor communication and blew multiple coverages. The linebackers couldn’t fit the run. Aside from Aidan Hutchinson, the pass rush failed to get home even as defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard blitzed over and over.
“It's just not acceptable,” linebacker Jack Campbell said of his performance in the game. “I'm going to look myself in the mirror, be a man about it. I ain't going to point no fingers because there ain't no fingers to be pointed except myself.”
Lions might need to play from behind this season
Detroit allowed 446 yards of offense, including 203 on the ground. Buffalo averaged 6.5 yards per play, went nine-for-12 on third downs and scored touchdowns on all five of its red zone attempts.
The Lions went down 21-0 and 28-7, and though their offense eventually got rolling, in the end it was simply too late. This came four days after the team nearly blew a 21-point lead to the New Orleans Saints and allowed Tyler Shough to pass for over 400 yards.
It was the kind of performance that makes you worried. Complementary football looks like it’ll be an issue for this team all season.
“We were on our heels for the majority of the game,” Hutchinson said. “We only got one or two stops. So, it's just bad, man. It's just not the kind of stuff— especially our offense fighting in the second half. I think we all came into the second half ready mentally, coming in to fight. And we didn't get it done. And yeah, we'll evolve. We have to.”
On paper, this team has winnable games coming up. They’ve got the New York Jets, Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals in their next three games. But two of those teams (Jets and Cardinals) are 1-0, and Carolina’s offense looked good even in a blowout loss to the Chicago Bears Week 1.
It still feels like this team will have to end up winning a lot of shootouts. And even if they are able to beat up on some weaker opponents, (they have the easiest schedule in the NFL according to Sharp Football Analysis), this defense doesn’t look like it can hold up on a serious contender all season. Detroit’s status as a real threat in the NFC seems severely capped.
READ MORE: Lions' pass rush finally looks great as secondary fully crumbles
Even if Brian Branch and/or Kerby Joseph is able to come back and play at a high level, this defense has problems at cornerback, linebacker and defensive line.
There have been rumblings of a Joey Porter Jr. trade to shore up the cornerback room. That may be the kind of move this team is simply forced to make.
The Lions have seen what happens when you need a Herculean effort from the offense every week but a defense that’s bound to catch up with you— this is a franchise that went 15-2 two years ago and lost their first playoff game.
Plain and simple, this Lions team looks competitive, but it doesn’t look like a contender. Not unless something significant changes on defense.
“Any time you play a good team like that, a team that's been to the playoffs as many times as they have, who has had the success, you get to see where you stack up,” Goff said after the Bills game. “And we're not there yet.”
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