The Detroit Lions didn’t just block Lukas Van Ness on Sunday. They mapped out a plan to keep him from wrecking the game.
That mattered because the Green Bay Packers were already thin up front. Micah Parsons is out, three interior defensive linemen are on injured reserve, Devonte Wyatt was limited by injury, and both starting linebackers, Zaire Franklin and Edgerrin Cooper, were unavailable on Sunday as well. Under those conditions, plenty of Packers fans were probably waiting for Van Ness to turn into the difference-maker off the edge.
It never really happened.
On film, the clearest takeaway was that Detroit consistently built its offense around taking Van Ness out of the picture and forcing someone else in Green Bay’s front seven to beat them. Van Ness lined up on the tackle and rushed the tackle only five times against Jared Goff, who attempted 32 passes.
One of those reps even came on a sack, where Van Ness was on and rushing the tackle. If you want to stretch the count, there was also a sixth edge rush on a screen, and Van Ness got a hand on the ball to tip it away from Goff.
Detroit also found ways to move him around without giving him clean chances to attack. He was lined up inside at times and got doubled, or he dropped into coverage to help the Packers avoid being a man short when a linebacker or safety came on the blitz.
That’s something Green Bay can control to a degree, and maybe the Packers want to stop using Van Ness in so many different ways until they’re not so short-handed. But in this game, Detroit seemed far more comfortable throwing when Van Ness was not on the field.
The Lions handled him in the run game, too. They ran away from his side or used a long surface with multiple tight ends to blunt his influence. And even when they did run toward him, he was often aligned outside a tight end or two, which kept him from having much of an immediate effect anyway.
The simplest read: Detroit treated Van Ness like a priority and made Green Bay’s other defenders prove they could make plays. Several of his five edge rushes came in the two-minute drill, when the Lions didn’t have much choice but to let him come after Goff.
Outside of Van Ness, the Packers’ top box defenders by snap count had a look more like a preseason third quarter than a full-strength defense. Injuries have already left Green Bay scrambling in 2026, and Detroit took advantage of that reality.
The Lions had a good offensive line, but the bigger story was their approach. They clearly went out of their way to limit Van Ness and force their chances elsewhere. It worked, and other teams may start following that blueprint until the Packers get more bodies back in the box.
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