At this point in the year, it’s been well documented that the Detroit Lions defense has been shredded due to injuries. Whether it be a season-ending injury in the summer to John Cominsky or during the season with Aidan Hutchinson, the list of injuries is a long one for Detroit.
Since we saw linebacker Alex Anzalone go down with a broken forearm in week 11 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, we’ve seen the Lions defense regress. They’ve allowed 30+ points in 3 out of their last 4 games and now have the 31st-ranked pass defense in the NFL.
On Monday night against the 49ers, we saw those struggles continue as 49ers QB Brock Purdy was able to go 27-for-35 with 377 yards and three touchdowns. Purdy did end up throwing two interceptions to Kerby Joseph but overall, he was able to shred the Lions defense through the air.
Contributing to that, we saw the Lions linebackers struggle against the pass. The group of Ben Niemann, Jack Campbell and Jalen Reeves-Maybin gave up 10 receptions on 10 targets in coverage for 162 yards and one touchdown vs. the 49ers. Despite some of the struggles, the Lions defense was able to make the plays that they needed to make. Let’s dive into some tape to look at the good and the bad of this Detroit defense from Monday night against the 49ers.
Wheel routes vs the Lions defense have become money for just about any team that decides to run it. JRM should have stayed facing the sideline and continued to run vertically. pic.twitter.com/GnqV6JJS5d
— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) January 2, 2025
Staying on topic with the Lions linebackers, we’ll take a look at this play above, where linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin gets beat on a wheel route from 49ers RB Isaac Guerendo.
On this play, the Lions come out in their nickel package on defense against a trips right formation from the 49ers offense. Once the ball is snapped, the Lions will have one safety rotate back to the middle of the field and another will buzz down.
As the play develops, it appears that the Lions are playing in man coverage and in the process, Reeves-Maybin gets flat-footed, then turns his body back to the quarterback. This gives Guerendo plenty of separation. As Reeves-Maybin tries to gain ground and get back to the running back, the ball is already thrown and the pass is completed.
The Lions defense has a miscue in the middle with 3 defenders flowing downhill and to the right. It felt like the 49ers were able to expose this for most of the night. #OnePride pic.twitter.com/R8CFPkgNYF
— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) December 31, 2024
This next play is an interesting one from the Lions defense because I think there’s miscues across the board. Looking at the play above, the Lions come out with a single high safety on defense and it’s a clear indication that they’re running a Cover-1 man look on defense.
Prior to the snap, the 49ers put a tight end in motion. Once the ball is snapped, you can see that both linebackers (Jack Campbell and Ben Niemann) flow down towards the running back and tight end. However, the downside is that defensive back Brian Branch also flows down with them. This puts three defenders on two potential pass catchers and it leaves the middle of the field wide open.
This gives 49ers QB Brock Purdy a clear passing lane on the spot route that’s run in the middle of the field. It leads to a first down and helps keep the 49ers offense in rhythm. Cleaning up these types of miscues will be very important for the Lions defense as they get ready for their playoff push.
Here’s a visual representation of what has happened to the Lions defense. The graph is reversed so that better games (lower defensive DVOA) appear higher. You can see that the Lions have had five straight games with defense worse than average. pic.twitter.com/p7taRAN7X3
— Aaron Schatz 🏈 (@ASchatzNFL) December 31, 2024
Adding to what I mentioned earlier, the Detroit defense has gotten statistically worse since linebacker Alex Anzalone went down with an injury. Looking at the Lions defensive DVOA, it hasn’t been pretty for the last four or five games.
Looking at the chart above, the Lions have had five straight games with defense worse than average. Specifically, the last three games have been a season-worst for the Detroit defense.
Lions DB Kerby Joseph is such a freaking stud. Reads this one the entire way. #OnePride pic.twitter.com/gZdToCaMpy
— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) January 2, 2025
All of this said, the Lions were able to force two turnovers when it mattered most on Monday night. Looking at the play above, the Lions come out with a single-high safety again on defense. That safety is Kerby Joseph, and with how far off the ball he is, it’s a clear indication that some type of man coverage is going to be run on defense.
Once the ball is snapped, the receiver at the bottom of the screen is running a slant and despite 6 or 7 yards of separation between the safety and receiver, this ball is intercepted. Joseph does a great job reading this play the entire way and despite the separation, he’s able to trigger downhill fast enough to pick this pass off.
Getting this ball back to the Lions offense allowed them to chew up over four minutes of clock but most importantly, it put the Lions up 12 points with just under three minutes left in the game.
Overall, the Lions defense is doing just well enough but forcing two interceptions on Monday night really made the difference. They’re slowly getting players back on offense, defense and special teams so that’ll make a difference.
However, the key thing for the Lions moving forward is cleaning up some of these miscues that keep occurring on passing downs. Furthermore, the Lions defense is starting to become predictable with the alignment of their safeties. Single high safeties tend to mean Cover 3 or Cover 1 and with how they like to run man coverage, teams really start to key on that.
Some adjustments moving forward should be more two-high safety looks from the defense. This will allow the Lions defense to better disguise their Cover 1 or Cover 3 defense and it’ll make it easier for them whenever they run a Cover 2 defense.
