Step back, says Aaron Glenn. Look at the big picture. No, the Lions don't have the best defense in the NFL. But they had the worst defense in the NFL last season, which is a testament to how far they've come. With mostly the same group of players, the Lions have made legitimate strides this year on the defensive side of the ball.
"When you look at it in totality, you look at our overall defense, man, it's really the same corps that’s been here," Glenn said Thursday. "You look at us last year at this time, man, we were not a good defense. We were ranked last in a lot of different categories. And you look at it now with really the same corps, these guys have improved. That’s the one thing I don’t think people really take a look at."
Glenn makes a fair point. While the Lions overhauled their secondary in the offseason, the only newcomers who have been on the field are Cam Sutton and rookie Brian Branch. C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Emmanuel Moseley have been non-factors due to injuries. The only newcomer who's played substantial snaps in the front seven is rookie linebacker Jack Campbell. Otherwise, the Lions have deployed essentially the same personnel as last year and jumped from dead last in total defense to ... 14th.
Their biggest gains have come against the run. The Lions allowed the fourth most rushing yards per game and third most yards per carry last season. This season, they're allowing the fifth fewest rushing yards per game and sixth fewest yards per carry. And, again, with mostly the same unit up front. Alim McNeill was in the midst of a breakout season before landing on injured reserve this week and linebacker Alex Anzalone is playing the best football of his career.
The pass rush is where the Lions have stalled, if not regressed. Aidan Hutchinson is the only player causing consistent problems up front -- your weekly reminder that he's third in the NFL in quarterback pressures behind Micah Parsons and Nick Bosa -- and opposing teams have limited his sack numbers with double teams. The Lions have 25 sacks as a team, 27th in the NFL. They finished 18th last season.
The lack of pressure has left the secondary exposed. Still, the pass defense has improved as a whole, from third to last in yards against to 21st and from second to last in net yards per attempt to 22nd. Branch has made a big impact in this regard. Sutton has played well, but not quite up to the standard of his $33 million contract and his status as the team's No. 1 corner.
"Mac’s having his best year I would think," said Glenn. "I do think Hutch is having a good year. The thing is, there’s been so much attention to him that he hasn’t had a chance to get the sacks that he’s wanting to get. Those will come for him. I think Alex is having the best year of his career. ... When it comes to yards, to rush, I mean, we were not good last year. But this year, man, things have changed. So I think we have to give credit to those guys, and we don’t hear that enough."
The Lions allowed 6.2 yards per play last season, most in the NFL. They're in the middle of the pack this season allowing 5.3. They've also gone from 30th in third down defense to 12th, a jump that owes to their ability to stop the run and get into third-and-longs. Their most alarming area of regression is in the red zone, where they're allowing touchdowns 71.8 percent of the time -- third worst in the NFL. The Saints scored on all four of their red zone trips last week as the defense caved in the second half. The offense did just enough in the Lions' 33-28 win.
"Listen, everybody wants to be the number one defense," said Glenn. "Hell, I want to be the number one defense, but guys have to develop and the guys have developed. And look where they put themselves. And they’re going to continue to get better at that, even the guys like Brodric (Martin) that we’re developing now. I mean, those guys are going to come along and do well for us.”
Of course, the name of the game on defense is to keep the opponent off the scoreboard. In that regard, the Lions haven't improved all that much, from 28th in points against per game (25.1) to 23rd (23.8). They are 9-3 thanks mostly to their offense, which ranks second in the NFL in yards in sixth in points.
"Listen, there’s always an urgency in that regard," said Glenn. "That’s the first thing that we talk about as a defense, is we want to limit points."
The Lions have yielded 25-plus points to each of their last four opponents and five of their last six. If that continues, it likely won't matter how much the defense has improved under the surface. Glenn's players will get their due when their growth is evident where it counts.