NFL Open Thread: Break up the Lions edition
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Dan Campbell and Ben Johnson have gotten a lot of credit for the turnaround of the Lions offense, which currently ranks 4th in DVOA with a solid game manager at QB. But the improvement of the Lions defense has if anything been even more impressive, and they’ve done it not by hiring a new coordinator but by the existing coordinator doing an impressive job of matching scheme to talent:
In 2022, Aaron Glenn’s second season as the Detroit Lions’ defensive coordinator, that defense finished 27th in DVOA — which was a step up from their ranking of 29th in 2021.
What a difference a season makes. Through the first six weeks of the 2023 season, the Lions rank third in Defensive DVOA, behind only the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens.
Better personnel has been part of the equation, but the Lions have also suffered their share of injuries. Really, it’s Glenn’s change of focus in coverage that has made the difference. Glenn was the New Orleans Saints’ defensive backs coach from 2016 through 2020, and under former defensive coordinator and current head coach Dennis Allen, the Saints are about pressure concepts and man coverage. The difference for the Saints is that they have had the players to tie pressure to coverage in ways other defenses might not.
Last season, per Sports Info Solutions, the Lions played the sixth-most snaps of man coverage against the pass in the NFL, allowing 110 completions on 153 attempts for 1,717 yards, nine touchdowns, five interceptions, and an opponent EPA of 10.51, 11th-worst in the league.
This offseason, Glenn obviously did some self-scouting, and put his players in better positions to succeed with different concepts. This season, the Lions have played the second-most snaps in zone coverage on pass plays behind only the Jacksonville Jaguars, allowing 102 completions on 153 attempts for 1,171 yards, one touchdown, four interceptions, and an opponent EPA of -0.73.
The other thing I’d mention here is that the Jaguars’ decision to draft Travon Walker over Aidan Hutchinson has proven to be exactly the galaxy-brained Trent Baalke nonsense it appeared to be at the time, and allowed the Lions to nab the top-level edge rusher that they needed.
The 49ers are the best team in the conference if they’re healthy — a big if, as we were reminded last Sunday — but if the Eagles are still better than the Lions it’s sure not by a huge margin.