The Numbers Don’t Lie: Lions Defense Still…

The Detroit Lions didn’t need their defense to do much against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday to come away with a 52-14 victory, and yet they were still very impressive in stretches.

Early and often, the Lions were all over the Titans. They snagged a pair of first half interceptions which led to 14 important points. In the second-half, Amik Robertson forced two fumbles to halt momentum on a pair of Tennessee drives. They also had a goal line stand just before halftime when the game was much closer.

While this was happening, the Lions rode a wave of momentum driven by special teams and the offense to build a commanding lead. There was never a moment the game was in doubt after it was tied early, and the defense helped that to be the case.

Even such, the Lions can’t get a false sense of security from a win over what is now a 1-6 team. The Titans were sloppy in all phases of the game, and helped the Detroit defense look better by making simple mistakes.

Detroit only collected one sack on the day, and they didn’t make Mason Rudolph panic in the pocket. That isn’t acceptable for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. A team with a better offensive line and quarterback would have made them pay, so Brad Holmes must aggressively be looking for upgrades before the trade deadline.

While the Lions’ pass rush continue to merely get by, after Sunday’s game head coach Dan Campbell praised those who stepped up.

“We have a lot of guys that are picking up slack. They know they are not just there to be a placeholder. They’re there, they got an opportunity and they’ve got to hold the line. It’s your time. You can’t be a liability. You can’t be. We’ve got (Trevor) Nowaski. We brought in (Al-Quadin) Mohammed, Isaiah (Thomas), Jalen Reeves-Maybin had to go out and play a ton of defense because (Malcolm) Rodriguez hurt his ankle. There’s a ton of that everywhere. Our guys are doing a good job of stepping up when they get an opportunity.”

As good as the Lions have been at getting these depth pieces to deliver, it simply isn’t a sustainable approach for a Super Bowl contender to rely on those type of players. Other injuries could come, which could spread them thin in key spots defensively and make it difficult to keep this plug-and-play approach going.

While the Lions have reason to feel good about their fifth straight win, it’s hard not to think about how an addition or two could make a big difference defensively.