Lions film review: Who stepped up and where the defense needs work after first post-Hutchinson performance
Allen Park — Against the previously undefeated Minnesota Vikings, the Detroit Lions' defense coalesced to overcome the absence of one of the league’s best players and an early-season front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year.
It was anything but easy in Detroit’s first game sans Aidan Hutchinson. The Vikings were efficient, averaging 7.4 yards per play, well above the 5.5 Lions’ opponents have averaged, and the worst they’ve allowed this season by a notable margin.
Minnesota averaged 6.6 yards per carry, and generated explosive plays on the ground and through the air — scoring on a 34-yard run and 25-yard touchdown toss to All-Pro receiver Justin Jefferson — but it still only amounted to 23 points. And that’s typically more than adequate for a Detroit team scoring more than 30 per week.
So what went wrong and what went right? What’s sustainable and what’s not? We take a lot at all of that in this week’s film review.
Things started poorly as the opponent attacked an area of the field the Lions have struggled to defend this season. Through six games, no one is allowing more yards on runs around the left edge (9.8 yards per carry).
On the second snap of their first series, Vikings running back Aaron Jones exploited that weakness, bouncing his handoff around the outside for a 34-yard scoring scamper.
The Vikings came out in a condensed formation with only Jefferson split wide to the right. Off left tackle, the Vikings had tight end Josh Oliver and two receivers. Detroit countered the three-wide personnel with a nickel package and revealed themselves to be in man coverage via pre-snap motion.