After being embarrassed by the Baltimore Ravens in Week 7, the Detroit Lions' defense took out their frustrations on the Las Vegas Raiders Monday night. The Raiders had 157 total yards of offense in the game, with 75 yards of that output on their lone touchdown drive.
The Lions' pass rush really got after Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, to put it mildly. Six sacks, nine quarterback hits and tons of pressures (exact number may vary depending on source). "Jimmy G" finished 10-for-21 for 126 yards with an interception, a 3.7 QBR and a 46.9 passer rating. Just two of those completions were to a wide receiver, including just one (on seven targets) to Davante Adams.
After the game, head coach Dan Campbell highlighted the collective effort of the Lions' pass rush in marriage with good coverage.
"Six sacks and nine quarterback hits, I mean that was all 100 percent teamwork there,”“We look like a tenacious defense, like that’s how we expect to play defense. We’re ferocious, we play tight coverage, we challenge. I thought Jerry (Jacobs) and Cam (Sutton) did a hell of a job. So it was an outstanding effort by our defense.”
Detroit Lions pass rush reached a unique level against the Raiders
According to Next Gen Stats, Garoppolo had the worst completion percentage over expected (-20.1 percent) in a game this season on Monday night.
But in terms of sheer pressure on Garoppolo, they set a mark not seen by Next Gen Stats in awhile.
The @Lions defense generated pressure on 71.4% of Jimmy Garoppolo's dropbacks, the highest pressure rate by a defense in a game since 2018.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 31, 2023
Five different Lions defenders generated 3+ pressures. Garoppolo was sacked 6 times on the night.#LVvsDET | #OnePride pic.twitter.com/tXYUMrAAlw
So on 28 dropbacks, the Lions pressured Garoppolo 20 times and that 71.4 percent rate is the highest in a game since 2018. As seen above, five different players had at least three pressures, led by Alim McNeill's six. McNeill and Alex Anzalone each had two sacks.
Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn was notably more aggressive bringing the blitz on Monday night, with no fear Garoppolo could evade pressure or burn the Lions' defense on downfield throws if/when there were opportunities. The game plan paid off, with the highest pressure rate Next Gen Stats has registered in five years as the driving force of a dominant defensive effort.