The Detroit Lions' secondary gave up over 300 second half passing yards to Tyler Shough in Week 1, allowing the team to climb back into what should've been a blowout and force overtime. Of course, they ended up getting the only stop that mattered against Shough - an attempted game-winning two-point conversion - but the pain point was obvious: chunk plays.
Shough, wrote ESPN's Ben Solak, managed to take advantage of the Lions' aging cornerback room by attacking them downfield, breaking their zone defense by chucking passes to Chris Olave and forcing D.J. Reed and Rock Ya-Sin into multiple races.
"No matter what sort of scheme you run or cushion you deploy, speed liabilities at cornerback will come back to get you. The Bills don't have a particularly fast group of receivers, but it's this sort of out-of-structure play that Josh Allen will create far more often -- and far more successfully -- than Shough did."
Aging secondary yet another problem for Lions defense
You can't turn back the clock on Reed, Ya-Sin, Avonte Maddox, or Chuck Clark. These players in their prime might've been able to form one of the best secondaries in football, but right now, they're mostly stop-gap solutions for an injured safety room and an underdeveloped nickel room.
Detroit can't make their cornerbacks younger or faster, but ideally, they'll be able to fix that issue once Brian Branch (and hopefully Kerby Joseph) are back and starting for their defense.
As Solak notes, the Saints took advantage of that problem for the Lions and still lost. Only by one point, sure, but they have an L on their schedule, and the Lions have a W. Can they replicate that same success against a far better, and far more developed, quarterback in Allen?
Allen is a game-wrecker in his own right. His passing game is best described as "cartoon canon" and his movement in the pocket can be best described as "Roadrunner Lite." Those two factors can really muck up the Lions' coverage and scheming in Week 2, especially if their corners aren't able to effectively cover Buffalo's receivers downfield as they struggled to do in Week 1.
READ MORE: Christian Mahogany injury creates a Lions problem only Ben Bartch can solve
This might be a game for the Lions' defensive line to win, and not necessarily their secondary, because of how chaotic Allen is as a quarterback. If they can get him running around more than actually setting the table for his offense, that could benefit their corners and safeties. Of course, Allen doesn't sound all that worried about changing up his pace tomorrow.
"We love chunk plays. That's how you score 36 points," said Allen ahead of their Thursday night game against the Lions. Detroit, shared team reporter Tim Twentyman, gave up six 20+ yard receptions against New Orleans in Week 1. Not great.
There's a decent chance Detroit is able to be more effective in this contest because of how much slower Buffalo's receivers are compared to Olave, Devaughn Vele, and Bryce Lance, but they'll need to be on their toes for all four quarters against a crafty Allen and his new target in D.J. Moore.
Add us as a preferred source on Google