On Sunday, the Detroit Lions were defeated by the Buffalo Bills 48-42. The main highlight of this game was the magnificent performance by Josh Allen, but for the Detroit Lions, the story is their defense. Three defensive players went down with injuries. The Lions’ head coach Dan Campbell said all three could be season-ending. Defensive tackle Alim McNeill and defensive backs Carlton Davis and Khalil Dorsey went down with knee or leg injuries. This adds to an already large injury list for Detroit’s defense and will make things even more difficult if they want to make a deep playoff run.
The Detroit Lions Success Despite Injuries
After this week, the Detroit Lions’ defense is now depleted with injuries. They have injured players at nearly every defensive position, with some being season-ending injuries. Detroit’s defensive end Aidan Hutchinson suffered a broken tibia and fibula in week six. Hutchinson is one of the best players on the Lions’ defense, so losing him for most of the season was a crucial blow. To make things worse, Hutchinson was having one of his best seasons yet. In just five games he had racked up 7.5 sacks and 17 quarterback hits. He was on pace to shatter his numbers last season, where he had 11.5 sacks in 17 games.
But, despite losing their best defensive player, the Detroit Lions continued to win. Before this loss to the Bills, the Lions were on an 11-game win streak. The defense was well-coached by Aaron Glenn and held opposing offenses in check while the Detroit offense ran up the scoreboard. They defeated good teams like the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings and destroyed unsuccessful teams like the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars. In one game against the Houston Texans, Jared Goff threw five interceptions, but the Lions still won due to their defense keeping them in the game by shutting out Houston in the second half.
Injuries Piling Up
Even though they have been successful without Hutchinson, the Detroit Lions’ injuries began to pile up. Marcus Davenport, Alex Anzalone, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Derrick Barnes, John Cominsky, Malcolm Rodriguez, Emmanuel Moseley, and more went down with injuries on defense. This week’s loss against the Bills appeared to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. Alim McNeill, Carlton Davis, and Khalil Dorsey all left the game with injuries. The Lions’ defense surrendered 48 points and in a key situation, down by ten, Dan Campbell and the Lions decided to onside kick. They wanted to risk the onside kick because the depleted defense was not trusted to stop Josh Allen.
Obviously, the Buffalo Bills offense is not an easy one to stop. Not every offense Detroit plays after this week will have a quarterback like Josh Allen. The defense has contained good quarterbacks in the past, neutralizing them long enough for the offense to get rolling and deliver the killing blow. But with McNeill, Davis, and Dorsey being added to the list of injured players, things are not looking up for the top team in the NFC. McNeill is an excellent run-stopper at defensive tackle, while Davis and Dorsey protect the secondary. Now, with the defense relying on more and more depth, it puts more weight on the Lions’ offense to score points.
And things may be getting even more difficult for the Detroit offense, as David Montgomery is also injured. The running back tandem of Mongomery and Jahmyr Gibbs is one of the best aspects of the Lions offense and with Montogomery hurt, that may be hindered as well. At 12-1, the Detroit Lions looked like they were on the cusp of a Super Bowl run, but with one loss and an abundance of injuries, things are looking much bleaker for Detroit.
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