The Detroit Lions bounced back from their Thanksgiving loss with a 33-28 victory against the New Orleans Saints.
But early on, it didn’t look like it would be that close. The Lions jumped out to a 21-point lead, only to allow the Saints to crawl back to within a field goal in the third quarter.
The Lions offense responded again, reclaiming a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter. But the Lions yielded another touchdown, and the Saints had an opportunity to take their first lead in the final minutes of regulation.
For the fourth straight week, the Lions allowed at least 26 points. They have also yielded more than 360 yards in three of the past four games.
With the Lions defense struggling, AtoZ Sports’ Mike Payton argued the team should consider a change with defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.
“Is it time to take the play calling duties out of the hands of Aaron Glenn? It wouldn’t be the first time Dan Campbell has done something like that during his tenure,” Payton wrote. “He took over the offense from Anthony Lynn in 2021, and the Lions were much better off for it. The big difference here is that this a 9-3 team and that was an 0-8 team. The other thing is that Campbell is an offensive coach.
“If they were to make a change, what would that change look like now? Don’t expect for Aaron Glenn to get fired. Winning teams don’t really fire coordinators during a playoff push and being one of the top seeds in the conference. I wouldn’t expect the Lions to hand the playbook over to Kelvin Shepperd right now or anything like that either.
“The most likely thing to happen, besides nothing, would be that the play calling would have to go through Campbell and the teams defensive coaches would have to be more of a committee than one guy calling the shots.”
Could the Lions Change Defensive Play Callers?
That’s likely not a big enough change for some Lions fans. Firing Glenn has become a popular opinion on social media in recent weeks.
But as Payton noted, NFL teams on their way to division titles and a top playoff seed don’t make coordinator changes very often.
Even changing defensive play callers is a radical suggestion. Glenn has served as Detroit’s play caller since Dan Campbell became Lions head coach in 2021.
The statistics suggest the Lions defense has improved in 2023. Detroit is sixth against the run after being 29th in rushing yards allowed last season. They are also 14th in points yielded and 21st in passing yards allowed.
In 2022, the Lions were 28th in points yielded and 30th in passing yards allowed.
But the Lions are in the bottom half of the league in both rushing touchdowns and passing touchdowns allowed.
Among the eight current division leaders, the Lions defense has allowed the seventh-most points.
Lions Defense Improves in Key Areas During Week 13
Despite allowing more than 26 points again, the good news is the Lions defense did record 2 sacks and 2 takeaways against the Saints.
Veteran Bruce Irvin made an impact in his Lions debut with a sack. Rookie defensive back Brian Branch posted his first interception since Week 1.
But Payton is still calling for the Lions to make more defensive adjustments.
“If not a change in the play caller, there needs to be a change in the play calling. The Lions are getting beat by the same thing every week,” Payton wrote. “Shotgun and double Hutchinson while your receivers beat the Lions corners off the line and then hit them with a big chunk play.
“The Lions just don’t seem to make any adjustments off that.”
If Irvin continues to emerge, then perhaps opposing offenses won’t be able to double-team Aidan Hutchinson as much going forward.
But the last major area where the Lions defense has to improve is in the red zone. They allowed a struggling Saints red zone offense to score touchdowns on all four of their red zone possessions.
Detroit has allowed opposing offenses to score touchdowns on 71.79% of their red zone trips. That’s tied for the second-worst defensive red zone touchdown percentage in the NFL.
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Lions Urged to Consider Change With Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn