The Detroit Lions have been on a hot streak lately, winning six of their last seven games. Now they’re set to face the much improved Carolina Panthers on Christmas Eve.
The Panthers are starting to come into their own over the past few weeks, and while they’re still one of the worst performing offenses in the league, nobody can ignore the progress they’ve made recently.
So with a tough-fought game on the horizon, here are three things the Lions will have to do to secure a win against Carolina:
1: Shut down the run game
The numbers don’t lie: in every game that the Panthers have won this season, they have relied heavily on their stable of running backs to carry their offense. All five of their victories this year were achieved with 145 or more yards on the ground.
While one of those wins was when they still had Christian McCaffrey, their other four wins came from the successful utilizations of running backs D’Onta Foreman, Chuba Hubbard, and Raheem Blackshear along with wide receiver Laviska Shenault.
The Lions have been very successful this season in forcing teams to abandon their run games completely. In all seven of their wins, no opposing running back had more than 57 yards on the ground. Even in their losses, only two running backs ran for over 100 yards against Detroit.
Every key run defender for Detroit is healthy and ready to go for Saturday’s game. Having Alim McNeill and Isaiah Buggs’ collective 620 pounds on the interior defensive line will force outside runs to players like Aidan Hutchinson and Malcolm Rodriguez, who have been instrumental in shutting down running backs all year.
2: Attack the middle of the field
Carolina’s secondary has struggled against passes to slot receivers all season. Luckily, Detroit has one of the best slot players in the league with Amon-Ra St. Brown.
St. Brown has been the best offensive weapon for Jared Goff over the past two years and should continue his success on Saturday afternoon.
The Panthers are allowing an average of 51 yards receiving from the slot per game, but that average is very misleading. Their successes in defending the middle of the field vary heavily from game to game. If Detroit can consistently attack with St. Brown, who is averaging 74.9 yards receiving per game, Carolina will be forced to defend the middle of the field while leaving deep threats like Jameson Williams and DJ Chark wide open.
3. Put the pressure on Darnold
Carolina quarterbacks have been sacked an average of three times per game over their nine losses. Across all 14 games played, there were only five times where they didn’t allow a multi-sack performance.
Detroit has one of the most aggressive and productive defensive lines in the league right now. Rookies Aidan Hutchinson and James Houston have a combined 12 sacks this season and Romeo Okwara is coming off a great two-sack performance.
Even role players such as John Cominsky and Benito Jones have made their presences known when rushing the passer, meaning Carolina’s offensive line has their work cut out for them.
If Detroit wants to win this game, they’ll have to send pressure consistently onto Sam Darnold and force him to panic or step out of the pocket. Either way, the Lions’ defenders have proved they’re capable of forcing turnovers in those kinds of situations.
