The Detroit Lions are stacking up wins, but man, are they ugly. In back-to-back games against the New Orleans Saints and the New York Jets, Detroit let two-score leads evaporate. Both opponents, despite hardly doing anything early, managed to tie things up late. It took the Lions’ offense taking control and the defense making one single game-defining play to escape with the W. It worked out both times, but if you’re talking Super Bowl chances, these wins aren’t exactly building confidence, especially for that defense.
The Big Defensive Shake-Up (That Still Couldn’t Stop Geno!)
Against the Jets, Detroit’s defense definitely tried to shake things up. They made some interesting personnel decisions, too. Rock Ya-Sin found himself riding the pine, with Roger McCreary getting the nod, and it looks like Ennis Rakestraw has even leapfrogged Ya-Sin in the pecking order. Veteran linebacker Devin White was a healthy scratch, with Malcolm Rodriguez and Trevor Nowaske stepping up big time. And can we talk about Christian Izien? In his first career start for the Lions, the dude was absolutely everywhere, making plays left and right.
Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard wasn’t just sitting there, either. He cooled off the aggressive blitz packages, dropping that rate to 22.7% compared to their season average of 33.6%. The idea was to get seven guys into coverage, hoping to take some stress off the secondary. The results? Yeah, they were mixed. The run defense was outstanding, no doubt there. And they still managed to bag five sacks, including the game-winning strip sack from Chuck Clark. Clutch, right? But here’s the kicker, the part that’ll keep you up at night: those outside cornerbacks still could not stop Geno Smith from lighting up Ford Field yet again. Yeah, there were fewer screw-ups and missed assignments in the secondary, but seriously, there were still too many.
Gradual Improvement and Offensive Firepower
When you put it all together, the defense improved against the Jets, but not by a lot. As Dan Campbell pointed out during the week, you aren’t going to fix everything overnight. This is about gradual improvement, guys getting that chemistry with each other, and just getting the reps to shake off some rust.
While the defense is a question mark, the offense is a different story. Jared Goff is off to a red-hot start. Jahmyr Gibbs is still very much on pace to be in the Offensive Player of the Year discussion, which is wild. And that offensive line, when it’s at full strength, is looking much more like the standard they’ve set. Plus, a few other weapons really stood out in their 31-24 win over the Jets. The PODcast dug into all this, even talking pros and cons of trading for Joey Porter Jr. If Detroit wants to be a real contender, that defense has gotta get right, and fast.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Pride of Detroit.
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