The Detroit Lions are getting to the quarterback, and their defense is still terrible.
Despite ranking among the top of the league in most pressure metrics, the Lions have arguably the NFL’s worst defense. Detroit has surrendered the most yards and points in the NFL.
The Lions are second in the NFL in sacks, fifth in the NFL in pressures (50), 11th in pressure percentage (26.3%), sixth in quarterback knockdowns, 10th in knockdown percentage (12.1%) and 12th in hurries (15). They are 11th in the league in blitz rate at 30.5%.
They have also missed the fewest tackles in the NFL with just nine. Detroit made a concerted effort to improve its defensive line this offseason and get more pressure, and it’s worked.
And yet, it hasn’t mattered. The Lions can’t get stops.
Lions cannot get complacent about secondary amid pass rush's success
“I told the D-line, ‘It’s a disservice what we’ve been doing to you all,’” defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said. “I truly feel like this is the best D-line we’ve had in my six-year tenure here since I got here in 2021. And we haven’t been complementing it well enough on the back end to see the benefits of it, and be outright beneficiaries, is what they should be with what the D-line is doing, especially Sunday night. They assaulted the pocket all night.”
Detroit was absolutely carved up by the Carolina Panthers on Sunday Night Football. Sheppard tried everything— blitzing, not blitzing, base defense, nickel, the list goes on. None of it helped.
Tetairoa McMillan caught a pass with seven different defenders guarding him. Nobody could stop him and he caught 14 passes for a career-high 192 yards and two touchdowns.
The Lions’ defensive back room is simply full of liabilities in coverage. DJ Reed, Roger McCreary, Rock Ya-Sin, Chuck Clark, Christian Izien and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. have all had some low, low moments. The highs from this group have been few and far between at best, and nearly nonexistent at worst.
On the defensive line, it’s been a different story. Aidan Hutchinson has been Aidan Hutchinson, and his 3.5 sacks are sixth in the NFL. Alim McNeill looks like he’s back to his old self, and blew up several plays against Carolina. Tyleik Williams is having the best year of his career. DJ Wonnum has been a quality addition.
That group, as disruptive as it’s been, has just gotten no support on the back end. It’s mind-boggling.
“The way that Tyleik Williams and Alim McNeill is playing B-to-B gap, teams rarely run the ball there and we have identified that now,” Sheppard said. “And then having a disruptive edge in Aidan Hutchinson and now complementary pieces opposite him with [Derrick Moore] and Wonnum. We have to feed off of them.”
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The Lions’ defense is starving much more than it’s feeding.
Brian Branch’s return from injury will help things, but he’s coming off a torn Achilles and isn’t going to be his usual self right away. And even if he is, he can’t singlehandedly turn this defense around.
He was optimistic about it, though.
“I just know what this group of guys are made up of,” Branch said. “We all want the same thing. We all got the same goal. We know that we've been shooting ourselves in the foot.”
Until there are clear signs of a turnaround— and probably some roster moves– it looks like the onus is on Detroit’s potent offense to carry the team. The Lions are going to have to win some shootouts, and head coach Dan Campbell said the offense should want to score 35 points per game, “at a minimum.”
"We've got plenty of weapons on offense and if we're gonna accept mediocrity, then yeah, we can make all the excuses in the world," he said in a radio interview. "If we want to spit and sputter and be average, that's one thing. We're not going to be average. We're going to raise the floor on these guys, man. We're going to push 'em.”
Maybe the combination of a healthy Branch and continued good play from the defensive line will lead to some improvement. There isn’t anywhere to go but up for this Lions defense.
Right?
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