Tennessee Titans vs. Detroit Lions

Tennessee Titans vs. Detroit Lions

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The Detroit Lions are back in the friendly confines of Ford Field today after two straight on the road and are looking to make it five straight wins as they host the Tennessee Titans.

Here are five things to look out for today in this interconference matchup:

1. Offense facing a good test

Tennessee might have a 1-5 record, but they are certainly not a 1-5 defense. The Titans rank No. 1 in the NFL in total defense and No. 3 against the pass. Unlike last week vs. Minnesota, it’s not so much the scheme Ben Johnson and Co. have to worry about this week with the Titans but rather the personnel. This Titans defense has a lot of talent at all three levels.

“Might be the best we’ve seen all year,” Johnson said this week about Tennessee’s defense. “They are violent, they’re physical, they finish, and when you see a team that plays as much two-high as they do and yet still be able to shut down every run game that they face, we already know that we have our work cut out for us.”

Detroit’s scored 30-plus points in three straight contests and head into today’s matchup ranked second in total offense (411.8), third in points per game (30.3), third in passing (256.3) and fourth in rushing offense (155.5).


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Detroit Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings, Sunday October 20

Detroit Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings, Sunday October 20

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The Lions got on the board early in the second quarter on their third possession of the contest on a 45-yard Jahmyr Gibbs touchdown run off the right side. Gibbs had been so close to breaking a big run in previous weeks but just couldn’t make that last man miss. That wasn’t the case here as he put an inside move on Vikings safety Camryn Bynum that left him reaching for air. It was the longest run of his young career and his third straight game with a rushing touchdown.

After forcing a punt on Minnesota’s next possession, Detroit took their first lead of the contest when Goff found a wide-open Amon-Ra St. Brown streaking down the right seam for a 35-yard score and a 14-10 Lions’ lead.

Detroit added to the lead right before the half with Gibbs’ second touchdown run of the afternoon, this one from eight yards out. Gibbs finished with 116 rushing yards on just 15 attempts (7.7 avg.).

The Lions opened this game by facing their first double-digit deficit of the season and went into halftime handing Minnesota their first double-digit deficit of the season. The Vikings had trailed for only three minutes and 26 seconds all season coming into the contest.

Minnesota trimmed Detroit’s lead to 21-17 on their opening possession of the second half on a 25-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Sam Darnold to wide receiver Justin Jefferson that capped off a nine-play, 80-yard drive.

Detroit responded with their fourth straight touchdown drive finished off with a 21-yard pass from Goff to wide receiver Kalif Raymond to give the Lions a 28-17 lead.

Minnesota chipped closer with 42 and 48-yard field goals in the fourth quarter to trim Detroit’s lead to 28-23 with six minutes left.

Trying to milk out the rest of the clock with the lead late, Montgomery had the ball knocked out of his hands by Vikings safety Josh Metellus at the Lions’ 35-yard line. It was picked up by linebacker Ivan Pace. Jr. at the Detroit 36-yard line and returned for a touchdown to give the Vikings a 29-28 lead. Minnesota missed the two-point try following the touchdown, which loomed large.

Detroit’s defense did their part forcing a late three and out to give the offense a chance at redemption.

Goff then drove the Lions 44 yards on eight plays to set up the Bates game-winner late.


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Detroit Lions vs. Dallas Cowboys, Sunday October 13

Detroit Lions vs. Dallas Cowboys, Sunday October 13

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QB Comparison: Goff continued his terrific play the last few weeks by completing 18-of-25 passes for 315 yards with three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 153.8 passer rating. That’s coming off his 18-for-18 performance in the win over Seattle Week 4.

With the Lions leading 47-9 midway through the fourth quarter, the Lions put backup quarterback Hendon Hooker in the game. He completed one of his two pass attempts for 19 yards.

Prescott completed 17 of his 33 passes for 173 yards with no touchdowns, two interceptions and a passer rating of 42.2. He was replaced by backup Cooper Rush, who threw the last interception to Joseph.

Key stat: The Lions’ first-team offense scored on all nine of their possessions in the contest.

Their drive chart looked like this: Touchdown, field goal, touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown, field goal, field goal, touchdown.


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Seattle Seahawks vs. Detroit Lions

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2. Can rushing attack keep rolling?

Detroit’s passing attack hasn’t quite clicked on all cylinders yet this season, despite ranking seventh in the NFL in passing entering tonight’s game. Detroit’s ground game, however, has been rolling to the tune of 163 rushing yards per game through the first three weeks of the season and are coming off a 188-yard performance on the ground in the win over Arizona last week. Detroit’s gained at least 4.0 yards on 53 of their 101 rushing attempts this season, the third best rate in the league.

Seattle ranks 15th in the NFL against the run, allowing 116 yards on the ground per game. The Lions are at their best offensively when they can dictate the pace with their run game and use the passing attack as a complement. Look for them to establish the run early and often tonight.

3. Replacing defensive starters

Detroit lost defensive end Marcus Davenport for the rest of the season and SAM linebacker Derrick Barnes for the foreseeable future. Davenport has been a a productive player for a Lions’ defense that is second in the NFL in QB hits (15) and top 10 in total pressures (57) through the first three weeks. Third-year defensive lineman Josh Paschal is expected to get the bulk of the snaps in Davenport’s absence, though the Lions have options to rotate different players opposite Aidan Hutchinson. It’s important the Lions get production from that spot or teams will use more and more resources to try and slow down Hutchinson on the other side.

As for replacing Barnes, Glenn said he has a ton of confidence in the depth at linebacker, probably more than any other position group on his defense.

“We have a number of guys in that linebacker room that would want to play that role,” Glenn said this week. “And I’ve said this every week, that’s a room that I highly respect the way that they operate. I highly respect the friendship and the closeness that they have in that room, and I highly respect the versatility that we have in that room.”


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Detroit Lions vs. Arizona Cardinals, Sunday September 22

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Detroit pushed the lead to 20-7 in the closing minutes of the first half on a terrific call from offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, dialing up a short pass from Goff to St. Brown completed at the Arizona 20-yard line. St. Brown lateraled it back to running back Jahmyr Gibbs who was crossing the field behind him for a 20-yard touchdown.

Lions safety Kerby Joseph made a huge interception in the Lions’ end zone on the Cardinals’ first drive of the second half. It was Joseph’s second interception of the season and the 10th of his career, which ties for the fourth most a Lions player has logged through the first three seasons of their career.

Goff threw an interception to Cardinals linebacker Dennis Gardeck at the Lions’ 36-yard line midway through the third quarter, but credit Detroit’s defense for having his back. They forced a turnover on downs at the Lions’ 23, tackling Murray short of the line to gain on a 4th & 1 play. Detroit took it down to the Arizona 34-yard line but also turned it over on downs, failing to convert their own 4th & 1.

The teams traded punts for a majority of the fourth quarter until a late Matt Prater field goal with three minutes left trimmed the lead to 20-13.

From there, Detroit was able to whittle the clock down to zero after a huge 17-yard completion to St. Brown on a 3rd & 11 play right before the two-minute warning. A Goff 8-yard run to pick up a first down and a couple kneel-downs ended it.


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Detroit Lions vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Sunday September 15

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After losing to the Lions twice last season, once at home Week 6 and another in the Divisional Round of the playoffs at Ford Field that ended their season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers exacted a bit of revenge Sunday by downing Detroit, 20-16, at Ford Field.

Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield continued his terrific start to the season with a passing touchdown and one rushing. He made multiple plays with his legs to escape pressure and extend plays.

Detroit’s offense was never really able to get on track for the second straight week. Detroit settled for too many field goals and were just 1-for-7 in the red zone, which was the big story of the game for Detroit in a close loss. The Lions were a top three offense in the red zone last year, but credit the Bucs for winning that battle Sunday.

Trailing 20-16 with 5 minutes, 12 seconds on the clock and starting at their own 18-yard line, quarterback Jared Goff drove the Lions down to the Bucs’ 10-yard line with a little more than a minute left but couldn’t convert on 4th & 8 as the Lions turned it over.

After the defense forced a three-and-out, Detroit got the ball back at the Bucs’ 44-yard line with 33 seconds left. Detroit got as far as the Bucs’ 28-yard line before turning it over on downs again without a shot to the end zone as they fell to 1-1 on the season.


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Los Angeles Rams vs. Detroit Lions

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It will be a little strange not seeing No. 99 anchoring the middle of the Rams’ defensive front. The future Hall of Famer retired this offseason after a stellar career. That’s obviously a big loss for the Rams’ defense, but they still feel really good about some of the young talent they’ve amassed upfront, including Kobie Turner, who had nine sacks last season along the interior, and the addition of rookies Jared Verse and Braden Fiske.

“I expect them to be better than they were last year,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said this week. “The influx of youth that they got this year, those were all players that we really liked too in the draft and so I think they’re going to be a better team.”

Campbell thinks the Lions are a better team too, which should make this a heck of a matchup tonight.

If there was an MVP award given out for training camp performance, third-year defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson would have won for the Lions hands-down. He was a beast all throughout camp.

“Hutch has had a tremendous offseason,” Glenn said this week. “He had a tremendous training camp, and now he’s at that point that he needs to set his sights at being, if not being the best player, defensively, in this league, to one of the best players – which he is, but now it’s time to look at himself as the best player.”

With a more talented secondary behind him and some new running mates alongside him upfront (most notably DJ Reader and Marcus Davenport), things are in place for Hutchinson to have a monster season. His 101 total pressures last season trailed only Micah Parsons (103), but his 11.5 sacks were tied for 12th most. Increasing his sack numbers could have a big impact on the defense. Last season across the league, offenses scored (TD or FG) when taking a sack on the drive only 22.9 percent of the time. They scored a touchdown when taking a sack on the drive just 7.6 percent of the time.


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Detroit Lions vs. Kansas City Chiefs, Saturday August 17

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The defensive reserves played well against Mahomes and the Chiefs’ first-team offense to begin the game, limiting them to two field goals (33 & 37) and 112 total yards of offense.

Carson Wentz replaced Mahomes after two series and put the Chiefs up 13-0 in the first quarter, connecting on a 22-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Xavier Worthy after Kansas City got the ball at the Lions’ 25-yard line following a Jalon Calhoun fumble on a kickoff return.

The Lions got on the board early in the second quarter on a Bates 55-yard field goal. They added to the lead midway through the quarter with their first touchdown of the preseason, a 61-yard pass from quarterback Nate Sudfeld to wide receiver Kaden Davis. Bates missed the extra point, however, and the Lions trailed 13-9.

A Harrison Butker 56-yard field goal and a Bates 23-yarder right before the half put the halftime score at 16-12 in favor of the Chiefs.

Bates trimmed the lead to 16-15 late in the third quarter on a 23-yard field goal following a 14-play, 75-yard drive orchestrated by Lions quarterback Hendon Hooker.

Kansas City increased their lead to 23-15 midway through the fourth quarter on a 64-yard pass from quarterback Chris Oladokun to wide receiver Cornell Powell. A 7-yard Hooker touchdown run cut the lead to 23-21 late, but the Lions failed to tie it up when Hooker was sacked on the subsequent two-point try.

Bates and the Lions’ defense came to the rescue late to secure the win.


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Detroit Lions vs. New York Giants, Thursday August 8

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Rookie report: Detroit’s rookies made their NFL debut Thursday, including top two picks Terrion Arnold (first round) and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. (second), who both started the game at the two outside cornerback spots.

Arnold played the first two defensive series before giving way to veteran Khalil Dorsey. Arnold wasn’t thrown at in his two series of work. Rakestraw played into the second half playing both outside and in the nickel. He finished with two tackles.

Fourth-round pick Sione Vaki had a couple really nice runs showing off some elusiveness and racking up 29 rushing yards on just four carries for a 7.3-yard average per carry. Rookie offensive lineman Giovanni Manu held his own playing left tackle in the second half, though he was flagged for a false start in the fourth quarter.

Undrafted rookie wide receiver Isaiah Williams had four receptions for 35 yards.

Key stat: Minus the one big Gray run, Detroit’s defense played pretty well throughout the contest, especially on third down. The Giants were just 1-for-10 on third down in the game and had 250 yards of total offense in the contest.

Injury report: Hooker left the game after his second drive of the second half, going into the medical tent and then leaving for the locker room. He did not return to the game.

Also leaving the contest with injuries were second-year wide receiver Antoine Green, defensive lineman David Bada and offensive lineman Connor Galvin, who was carted off the field.


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