Getty Brad Holmes speaking during the 2022 NFL combine.
The Detroit Lions are caught in a familiar tailspin of not being able to get their offense and defense on the same page, and this imbalance cost them dearly in Week 8.
Though the team’s offense returned to form in a big way against the Miami Dolphins, the defense wasn’t able to pick the team up. The Lions allowed a dominating game from the Miami trio of Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
Tagovailoa would put up 382 yards passing and three scores, while Waddle got in the end zone twice and went for 106 yards. Hill wasn’t covered either, and racked up 188 yards on the day as a huge weapon. This group was not stopped most of the afternoon by the team at all, as evidence by the 476 yards the team allowed in a 31-27 loss.
Miami’s offense kept the team in the game early in spite of Detroit’s dominance. The Detroit defense didn’t offer much resistance overall in the game, and were bailed out mostly by Miami’s mental mistakes in terms of penalties or lack of execution a few times.
This past week, Sheila Ford spoke about the direction of the team, and said Brad Holmes remains committed to building the team through the draft. While that’s a smart choice, the Lions might also have to spend money in order to field a competent defense.
Ford is going to have to open her checkbook to get the Lions some players to help fill in. Band-aid players such as edge Charles Harris, cornerback Mike Hughes and linebacker Alex Anzalone cannot be enough. Detroit has to buy at least one or two top-flight defenders from outside the family in addition to targeting top players in the draft.
It’s clear the Lions don’t have enough players to win on defense, and that can’t be the case for the team. Holmes and Ford will have to put some money toward the defense if they want any shot of improvement. Not having players does Aaron Glenn no favors as a coordinator, and it can’t be the case in 2023.
What else was learned in this game? Here’s a look at the lessons from another sad hunt.
D’Andre Swift, Amon-Ra St. Brown Make the Offense Go
The Lions had suffered through a two game power outage on offense scoring only six points, but as the game went on, it looked more and more like the reason for this was the absence of some star players.
D’Andre Swift and Amon-Ra St. Brown came back and made their presence felt in a big way. Swift got into the end zone and helped set plenty up on offense. He would finish with 33 total yards and a score. St. Brown came back and got busy as well, with a total of 69 receiving yards.
.@DAndreSwift @taylorswift13
🤝
Making a return
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This group will remain important to the Lions, and might be significant moving forward to keeping the offense consistent. It was nice to see them step up and provide the team a usual wrinkle.
Young Building Blocks Exist on Defense
As badly as the Lions have played on defense, the fact remains that the team has some great building blocks for the future on defense.
In the first half against Miami, the pair of safety Kerby Joseph and linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez continued to show out. On their first series of the day, the pair dominated for a couple huge plays.
Joseph laid the wood for the second week in a row, forcing another fumble for the team’s defense that was scooped up by Rodriguez. Here’s a look at the play:
A few plays before that, Rodriguez had burst through the line for his first career sack on the field. It was a huge play for the team’s defense.
First career sack for @malcolmlrod‼️
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As a whole, it’s nice to see this pair of players getting it done for the Lions. They have some building blocks on defense, and it’s easy to see how these players are part of that group.
Ben Johnson, Jared Goff Cost Lions the Game Late
As bad as Detroit’s defense played, the team had a shot to win the game right up until the final drive. On fourth and two, the Lions elected to go. Instead of looking around short,
Whether Johnson called this play or Goff executed it poorly, it was a comedy of errors for the Lions. It’s the kind of silly play that the team simply has to avoid. Small issues have doomed Detroit, whether it be poor play calls or mental errors in terms of blocking up front. The Lions had a sloppy second half, and in a shootout, that was not something that could be afforded.
Execution has to be much sharper in the waining moments, and had the Lions kept the drive going, they may have had a chance at winning the game.
Lions’ MVP: Jamaal Williams, Running Back
While others were setting up the Detroit attack, Jamaal Williams was finding a way to make big plays and get the ball into the end zone. Williams had a big day, getting into the end zone two more times for the team and racking up 53 passing yards to go with 23 receiving yards.
Another Sunday, another multi-touchdown day for @jswaggdaddy!
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So far this season, Williams has showed major promise as the finisher for the Lions at the goal line, and that continues to play out. He’s looked like a force for the team, which has been important.
Lions’ Stat of the Game
28, the number of first downs the Lions surrendered on the day. It was an embarrassing number of completions for Miami to have, and prove how the Detroit defense had no answers for Miami most of the afternoon.
The Lions have to find a way to get off the field on third down and not allow teams to rack up big plays to move the chains consistently. It’s not a stretch to say that the team never stopped Miami much if at all.
Lions’ Quote to Note
“They just did it. Over and over. They had their way.” -Dan Campbell. After the game, Campbell was frustrated with the way his team was not able to make any stops on Miami. There were no surprises in the game schematically, but the only surprise to the staff may have been how few stops the team managed to get.