{"id":8588,"date":"2024-12-31T15:09:25","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T15:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=8588"},"modified":"2024-12-31T15:09:25","modified_gmt":"2024-12-31T15:09:25","slug":"breaking-detroit-lions-defensive-injuries-catching-up-to-them-at-the-worst-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=8588","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Detroit Lions\u2019 Defensive Injuries Catching Up to Them at the Worst Time"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Detroit<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Detroit Lions had one hell of a path to get to 14-2.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re undefeated against the best division in the league. Sunday night\u2019s regular-season finale with the Minnesota Vikings will decide the NFC North crown and the No. 1 seed in the conference. The Lions had to overcome more than their fair share of injuries throughout the journey.<\/p>\n

But you could not have watched Detroit\u2019s 40-34 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night and come away feeling good about the state of the Lions\u2019 defense entering the playoffs.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard not to like these Lions. I\u2019m a big, big fan of Dan Campbell; their offense is endlessly fun to watch, and it\u2019s great to see a franchise that had no punch for the better part of the last 60 years get their turn in the limelight, contending for their elusive first Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

Their weaknesses, however, are clear. I\u2019m not laying any blame at the feet of defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. He\u2019s playing the players he\u2019s got on a unit devastated by injuries.<\/p>\n

The biggest name the Lions are missing on that side of the ball is elite pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson, who broke his tibia and fibula in Week 6, but that\u2019s just the start. Six starters from the Lions\u2019 Week 1 defense are on injured reserve, important guys the average football fan might not know, like 2023 leading tackler Alex Anzalone.<\/p>\n

Just two weeks ago, No. 1 corner Carlton Davis suffered a fractured jaw, and defensive lineman Alim McNeil (second in sacks behind Hutchinson) tore his ACL.<\/p>\n

On paper, it may not seem like it\u2019s mattered that much. The Lions entered Monday with the No. 7 scoring defense (19.9 ppg allowed) despite giving up the 14th-most yards per game (338.9), a true \u201cbend but don\u2019t break\u201d setup.<\/p>\n

But in seven games against playoff teams (counting the NFC South-leading Buccaneers, who could clinch in Week 18), the Lions gave up 26.4 points per game. And some of Detroit\u2019s roughest showings have come this month as the ranks continued to thin: 31 points in a win over Green Bay, 48 in a loss to Buffalo, and 34 on Monday night at San Fran.<\/p>\n

Not only did the 49ers\u2019 first five drives result in four touchdowns and a missed field goal, but they only reached third down a grand total of four times. A Niners offense with Isaac Guerendo instead of Christian McCaffrey and Ricky Pearsall instead of Brandon Aiyuk was getting everything it wanted.<\/p>\n

I give credit to Kerby Joseph, the lone bright spot in Detroit\u2019s bottom-five pass defense, as he collected his eighth and ninth interceptions of the year in the second half. (To be fair, Brock Purdy uncorked a terrible overthrow on the first one and completely telestrated the second.) But both of them came after teammate Brian Branch committed boneheaded penalties to help the opponent\u2019s drives along.<\/p>\n

Glenn gave a quote the other week that I can truly appreciate. It was right after the Lions lost Davis and McNeil, and it was clear he\u2019d heard enough about his team\u2019s bad injury luck.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to the playoffs. We\u2019re in the tournament. Why in the hell is the sky falling for us?\u201d Glenn said. \u201cWhat do we have to sit back and be sad? We let you guys do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s far preferable to the unseemly \u201cwoe is me\u201d tack from a coach. His job isn\u2019t to worry but to work with what he\u2019s got.<\/p>\n

But if I\u2019m a Lions fan right now and I\u2019m thinking about what Minnesota, Green Bay, Philadelphia or Washington could do to my defense in the playoffs… the sky might not be falling, but I\u2019d be lining up to donate my leg and my jaw to the guys in Honolulu blue who really need it.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Detroit Lions have been winning despite injuries all season long, but their lack os star power remaining on the defensive side of the ball is catching up to them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-detroit-lions"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING: Detroit Lions\u2019 Defensive Injuries Catching Up to Them at the Worst Time - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=8588\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Detroit Lions\u2019 Defensive Injuries Catching Up to Them at the Worst Time - 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