Is It Time For Lions Fans To Panic After Sunday’s Loss Against Seattle
The Detroit Lions lost to the Seattle Seahawks in the league’s highest-scoring game this year. The Lions now fall to 1-3 on the season even while having the highest scoring offense in the league. The Lions’ defense is easily the worst in the league, however, and there are no signs of it improving. Should Lions fans panic about the season already or is there still hope for a seven to nine win season?
Is The Lions’ Offense A Worry Point?
The Short and simple answer to this is no, the Lions’ offense should be of no worry to fans. Not only have they put up the most points of any offense, but they’ve also done it with many starters being out. This past week, where they put up their most points, they were without Amon-Ra St. Brown, D’Andre Swift, Jonah Jackson, DJ Chark, and Halapoulivaati Vaita and still put up 45 points. Then throughout the game, they had injuries to center/guard Evan Brown and wide receiver Quintez Cephus. They are currently putting up 35 points per game and are showing no signs of slowing down thanks to offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
Jared Goff this season is tied for most passing touchdowns in the league and is third in passing yards, even with most of his receivers being out last week. The running back core has also been spectacular, Swift while being out and limited most of this year is at the top of the league in yards per carry, and Jamaal Williams leads the league in rushing touchdowns. Amon-Ra St. Brown is still at the top of the league in receptions and receiving touchdowns even with missing this week. The final part of the offense is the offensive line, the Lions are missing two starting lineman and is still the fifth-ranked offensive line in the league by PFF.
Is The Lions’ Defense A Worry Point?
This one is another short and simple answer, the Lions’ defense is a major worry point. They are allowing easily the most points in the league, allowing 35.3 points a game. The pass rush is almost nonexistent with John Cominskey being out which causes receivers to have time to get open. On top of the Rush not doing well, outside of Okudah the entire secondary has been getting burnt leaving quarterbacks like Geno Smith getting over 300 passing yards. The worst part of this defense so far has likely been the inability to tackle in the open field.
Rashaad Penny said in his post-game interview that they knew exactly what the Lions were going to do for each of those 50+ yard touchdown runs. While Dan Campbell said they are going to change some things around this is not a good look for Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn. Amani Oruwariye and Mike Hughes have played so poorly that of the 99 corners eligible for PFF grades through four weeks Oruwariye ranks last, and Hughes is in the bottom 5. There have really been only four players that have looked positive for this defense and that is Malcolm Rodriguez, Jeff Okudah, Alim Mcneil, and Aidan Hutchinson.
Should Lions Fans Hit The Panic Button?
As of right now, it is too early to hit the panic button on this team. While the defense is terrible, the offense can keep Detroit in games. If the defense can put it together a tiny bit and force at least a few stops the Lions can still end up with around seven to nine wins on the season. Dan Campbell has already said they will be moving around some personnel on the defense, so hopefully, it will help the defense improve.