3 Lions who need to play a lot better if Detroit is going to make it to the Super Bowl

The Detroit Lions have ended a lot of franchise streaks for futility this year. A division title, a playoff win (now two) and trip to the NFC Championship Game. The next hurdle is beating the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, on the road, which would bring their first-ever trip to the Super Bowl.

The Lions have have won their two playoff games by a total of nine points. They have made plays when they've had to in order to take hold of and seal games, which is the key to winning games in the postseason.

Head coach Dan Campbell has faith his team won't crumble under the pressure of the biggest stage many of them have played on in their careers, and all the outside attention being in the NFC title game comes with. Campbell noted how much fuller the media room at Allen Park was on Wednesday.

"It's not about the outside things. Here we are, this is the biggest issue right now. Most of the time I come in here, there's about 20 of you," Campbell commented further. "Now there's a whole packed room, people I don't even recognize. That's what our players are dealing with, it's all the extra attention outside of the norm. That's the issue, it's not the opponent. It has it's own issues that we'll deal with, but it's all the outside attention where they're getting pulled from every area." 

In a broad sense the Lions match up well with the 49ers, and if wide receiver Deebo Samuel (shoulder) is unable to play that'll be a notable advantage for them on the defensive side. But it obviously won't be easy, regardless of who's available or not for San Francisco

If the Lions are going to beat the 49ers and go to the Super Bowl, these three players in particular are going to have to up their games.

3 Detroit Lions who must play better to make it to the Super Bowl

3. CB Kindle Vildor

Vildor stepped into a bigger role when the decision to bench the struggling Jerry Jacobs was finally made. He has started the last four games, including the two postseason games of course, playing 98, 100, 100 and 97 percent of the snaps respectively.

What has that yielded over that last four games? 11 total tackles, one tackle for loss, a forced fumble, zero pass breakups, zero interceptions. As the Lions' pass defense has bleed yards and explosive plays, if they had better options Vildor would not be playing as much. Someone higher on this is getting more attention for his struggles, and rightfully so.

To be fair to Vildor and honest about him, he's a fringe roster-worthy player being relied on to start and play nearly every snap as an outside corner for the Lions. A tentacle of the old baseball-centric line that goes something like "It's not your fault, kid, it's the scout that signed you" applies here.

It's not Vildor's fault that circumstances have him in a more prominent role than his actual skills deserve. It's not even completely the Lions' fault, with Emmanuel Moseley playing on a few snaps this season and Jacobs struggling unexpectedly like he did before being injured himself.

Vildor will of course find himself in a prominent and critical role again on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game. Matched up against Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk or even Jauan Jennings if Samuel is out or limited, he at least cannot be a complete liability.

2. OG Kayode Awosika

With Jonah Jackson set to miss the conference championship game after surgery to repair a torn meniscus, Awosika is in line to start at left guard for the Lions on Sunday.

Awosika had not played an offensive snap since Week 14 before being called on to replace Jackson mid-game against the Buccaneers, so that has to be noted. Head coach Dan Campbell had good things to say about him right after the game, but the numbers backing up Awosika's work against Tampa Bay were not good.

As much as the Buccaneers' interior defensive line was a great challenge (Vita Vea, Calijah Kancey), the 49ers defensive tackles are just as tough (Javon Hargrave, Arik Armstead, Javon Kinlaw).

Awosika really can't be a whole lot worse than he was last week, when (again) he faced the not-ideal situation of coming into a game cold and trying to hold his own against a strong set of interior defensive lineman. But the 49ers will put a bullseye on him during Sunday's game, as a spot to attack on an otherwise great offensive line. He needs to be up to that task, and at minimum not be noticeable for the wrong reasons.

1. CB Cameron Sutton

Last week, defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn defended Sutton in the wake of recent struggles against a run of top-notch wide receivers.

Listen, he's handled those like a pro," Glenn said about the recent stretch of tough assignments for Sutton. "...Listen, everybody has an opinion. Everybody does. A lot of them don't know what the hell they're talking about, for the most part....The thing that he’s doing a good job of is he’s staying within himself, he’s built himself a cocoon and he understands exactly what we’re asking him to do. And listen, we’re going to continue to challenge him to be the best Cam that he can be on a weekly basis. And listen, we’re happy with him."

Glenn can't truly be happy with the lack of impact Sutton has had, all season and particularly over the last several weeks.

Following Glenn's comments, per Next Gen Stats, Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans did this when lined up across from Sutton last Sunday.

It's truly a wonder Tampa Bay didn't go after Sutton with Evans more often than they did.

On Tuesday, during his appearance on 97.1 The Ticket (h/t to Lions Wire), head coach Dan Campbell took the baton to defend Sutton.

"That’s that’s the nature of playing the position. And if you’re a quarterback or cornerback, we talk about all the time — you’ve got to have a short memory, short-term memory,” Campbell said Tuesday. “And things are going to happen. And the most important thing in those positions is to bounce back."

Campbell is right about cornerbacks needing to have a short memory, and leave bad plays behind. He was also sure to make note of a play Sutton made on Rams' wide receiver Puka Nacua in the Wild Card game. You're excused if you don't remember it.

"He makes a huge play on Puka. And that’s what it’s about here,” Campbell said. “And we’ll mix the coverages; he’ll do what he does. But Cam’s going to be just fine.”

When targeted in primary coverage over the last four games, Sutton has allowed 26 completions on 32 targets for 467 yards and three touchdowns. From Week 16 through the Wild Card game, narrowed to going against Justin Jefferson (in two games), CeeDee Lamb, Cooper Kupp and Nacua, according to Pro Football Focus, he allowed 22 catches on 26 targets for 403 yards and three touchdowns along with a 141.2 passer rating allowed. Two different spans, covering some of the same games but with some different data specifics...all pretty ugly.

Sutton will likely be matched up against Deebo Samuel (if he's able to go), or Brandon Aiyuk regularly on Sunday. Samuel's talent level goes without saying, but Aiyuk is no slouch himself.

During the regular season, Aiyuk was second in the league in yards per catch (17.9) and yards per target (12.8), as he finished seventh in the league in receiving yards (1,342). He also had a top-20 average depth of target (13.9 aDOT).

Regardless of who he's asked to cover in the new biggest game of the Lions' season, Sutton needs to turn around his recent trend and find a level of play he really hasn't found this year.