The Detroit Lions defense still isn’t fixed

Going into the season, the Detroit Lions were expected to be Super Bowl contenders. They built up a big halftime lead against the San Francisco 49ers in the first half of last year’s NFC championship game, only to collapse when their defense crumpled and coach Dan Campbell made some risky decisions that were borderline reckless. The assumption was that the defense would get fixed, and given some modest improvements on that side of the ball the Lions would be knocking on the door again.

Great theory, but it remains a work in progress. Detroit is still playing track meet games, to the point where Geno Smith of Seattle lit them up for almost over400 yards in last week’s Monday nighter. The good news is that the 3-1 Lions are winning games, but their “score, then score some more” formula for winning feels precarious, and it will become downright dangerous as playoff football approaches. Great teams are usually at least good on both sides of the ball, and there’s some defensive work to be done in Detroit.

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The Detroit Lions definitely drafted for defense

To their credit, the Lions didn’t ignore this problem. Brad Holmes has built a formidable reputation as a drafter and roster builder, and he went right after Terrion Arnold in the first round, hoping the Alabama product would help solidify Detroit Lion’s leaky pass defense.

Arnold has played well, but it turns out he’s just a first step in a larger project. Holmes selected Ennis Rakestraw, Jr. from Missouri in the second round, but Rakestraw hasn’t been able to get on the field. Fixing a pass defense with one good cornerback is the equivalent of getting a nasty cut and putting a Band Aid on half of it, and the Lions have had the usual assortment of injuries, too. All of which is part of the reason Detroit’s pass defense is third worst in the league going into their bye week.

On paper, the pass rush hasn’t been a problem

The other path to a solution would be an effective pass rush, and the numbers say the Lions are in good shape there. Aidan Hutchinson leads the team with 6.5 sacks and the Lions have a total of 11, which is fine for four games even though there have been problems with inconsistency. The time of possession numbers are mostly even, so the numbers there are at least solid, too.

But Detroit hasn’t been particularly good at forcing turnovers, which is definitely an early issue. They’re averaging just one a game, which isn’t going to get it done over the long haul. Kerby Joseph has three picks, but opposing quarterbacks have been completing passes at an alarmingly high level and averaging seven yards per attempt, which forces Jared Goff to be almost perfect.

Going beyond the numbers

Perhaps the strangest thing about Detroit’s defensive issues is that they run counter to the mentality of their “toughness first” head coach. Dan Campbell made his bones early on with his outrageous quotes about biting kneecaps, but that toughness hasn’t translated to defensive dominance.

One possible solution to this is simply the small sample size. The Lions have played well on both sides of the ball at times—e.g., they mostly shut down the supposedly-powerful Arizona offense during their week three road win. Maybe the Lions can make some adjustments after some self-scouting during the bye week, then improve as the season progresses.

The problem with that theory is that some of this feels all too familiar. The Lions shot out to a big lead against Seattle, only to find themselves in a back and forth, one-score game in the fourth quarter. The Seahawks have been a marginal playoff team for the last few years, but that formula doesn’t usually work all that well as teams go deeper in the playoffs.

This article was originally written by Bob McCullough