For all the wreckage around it, Detroit’s pass rush has started to look like the one part of the defense that can actually be trusted.
That was true again Thursday against Buffalo. The Lions got to Josh Allen 23 times, finishing with two sacks and eight quarterback hits. That pressure didn’t save the night, but it did stand out in a game where almost everything else on that side of the ball fell apart.
Aidan Hutchinson was once again at the center of it. He picked up his third sack of the season and also forced a first-drive fumble that could have changed the feel of the game if Detroit had come up with the recovery. Instead, the Bills kept the ball, and the Lions were left wondering what might have been if they’d started on Buffalo’s 31-yard line.
Hutchinson was Detroit’s highest-graded defender on Pro Football Focus at 88.6, and Tyleik Williams followed him again, just as he did in Week 1. Williams posted a 78.2 grade, added one quarterback hit, and finished with five tackles, including three solo stops.
Derrick Barnes supplied the other sack, his second of the season. That came with a little extra theater after Allen had been interrupted by a spider during a press conference earlier in the week, following Barnes showing up to the Lions’ Week 1 game against the New Orleans Saints dressed as Spider-Man with his son.
The problem for Detroit is that the pressure never turned into enough stops. Allen kept extending plays, escaping the pocket, and finding the openings that were there.
Sometimes that meant running for an easy first down. Sometimes it meant waiting out the rush and delivering to a receiver who had far too much space.
That’s the frustrating part for the Lions: the front is doing its job more often, but the rest of the defense isn’t holding up its end. The run defense, which had been a relative bright spot in the preseason and Week 1, gave up 203 rushing yards to a Bills team that managed only 86 on the ground against the Houston Texans the week before. Allen himself ran for 69 yards, three more than Jahmyr Gibbs and the Lions’ offense combined, and he accounted for two of Buffalo’s three rushing touchdowns.
The secondary was burned again, this time for three passing touchdowns to Allen. Jack Campbell’s slide has also become impossible to ignore. On PFF, Campbell and Devin White were two of Detroit’s three lowest-graded players across both sides of the ball on Thursday, with Campbell at 28.2 and White at 30.8.
There is at least some precedent for this pass rush giving the Lions a chance. In Week 1 against the New Orleans Saints, Detroit logged four sacks, eight quarterback hits and a league-leading 26 pressures. The Saints’ Tyler Shough settled in during the second half, threw for 410 yards, and turned what looked like a runaway into a one-point overtime win for the Lions.
So yes, the pass rush is finally showing up. The issue is everything around it. With safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch on the way back, and a possible trade for cornerback Joey Porter Jr. on the horizon, there’s still a path for this defense to look a lot different later on.
For now, though, the reality is simple: Jared Goff and the offense keep winning these shootouts, and there are likely going to be plenty more of them.
In Other News...
Lions Fans Had Another Reason To Be Furious During Bills Loss
The Lions already had plenty to stew over after Thursday nights 41-31 loss to the Bills, but the frustration did not stop with the scoreboard. As Buffalo pulled away behind Josh Allens five total touchdowns, the broadcast managed to add another jolt for Detroit fans when a graphic incorrectly listed the Bills at 3-0 and the Lions at 1-2.
It was the kind of small but glaring mistake that tends to feel bigger in the middle of a disappointing national showcase. For Lions supporters, it only sharpened an already sour night, one where the team left with a loss and the broadcast booth gave them one more reason to grumble. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Rookies Suddenly Have A Chance To Fix A Growing Secondary Problem
The Lions first game at their new stadium did more than hand them a 41-31 loss to Buffalo. It also underscored how much youth and depth matter on a secondary that is still sorting itself out, with several rookies sidelined or inactive while the team tried to piece together its back end. First-round pick Blake Miller missed the game with a knee injury, and cornerback Keith Abney was inactive as Christian Izien returned, leaving Detroit with fewer young options than it had hoped to evaluate in a high-profile setting.
Avonte Maddoxs foot injury only adds to the uncertainty, because the Lions are now looking at a defensive backfield that could use quick answers. For a team that has leaned on development at key spots, the situation creates an opening for rookies to get back into the mix and potentially stabilize a problem that became harder to ignore in a lopsided home debut. [Read more 🡒]
Jahmyr Gibbs Just Gave Lions Fans An Uncomfortable Week 1 Issue
Jahmyr Gibbs Week 1 tape added a little extra edge to an already eventful start for the Lions, with the NFL deciding after the fact to punish a play that officials let go in the moment. The running back was fined $23,027 for lowering his helmet and making forcible contact with a Saints cornerback, a ruling that puts a spotlight on how closely the league is watching contact at the point of attack.
The fine was the biggest of the 20 handed out across the league after the opening week, and it serves as an early reminder that even routine-looking runs can carry consequences once the league office reviews them. For Detroit, it is the kind of small but uncomfortable development that can linger for a player whose impact depends on physicality and timing, especially when the next few weeks are already about settling into the season. [Read more 🡒]