Against an offensive line playing three backups including both tackles, the Lions managed just two sacks in their season-opening win over the Rams -- one of which came on the final play of regulation. Matthew Stafford made it nearly impossible for Detroit's pass rush to get home.
"You could put two high school tackles out there and we weren’t going to get to the quarterback, as fast as he was throwing the ball," Dan Campbell said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket. "I mean, that ball came out in a hurry. If you look at any time he held the ball significantly, we were beating these tackles consistently, so it wasn’t about that."
The Lions did mount 18 pressures on Stafford, 11 from Aidan Hutchinson, according to Pro Football Focus. Only three quarterbacks were pressured on more of their drop-backs in Week 1 -- all of whom, like Stafford, lost. Stafford also attempted 24 passes in less than 2.5 seconds after the snap, second most in Week 1.
"The sacks and everything else, I give Stafford credit, man," Campbell said. "He played fast, he played efficient. They adjusted pretty quickly to what type of game it was. And the good news was, we made them one-dimensional for the most part. They knew they couldn’t hold it and they had to get the ball out and man, they did a good job over there."
"But I think what we’ve got up front can be special, I really do," Campbell added.
The Lions feel better about their defensive line than they ever have under Campbell and Brad Holmes. It could well determine their ceiling this season. The offense should remain elite and the secondary should be much better. The run defense was as stout as ever in Week 1. If the Lions can generate a steady pass rush, they can go places they've never been.
Hutchinson, who finally took down Stafford last Sunday to send the game to overtime, is ready to be "the best defensive player in the league," if you ask coordinator Aaron Glenn. Marcus Davenport, who had six pressures on Stafford, is a powerful edge-setter on the other side, something the defense sorely lacked last season. Levi Onwuzurike lived up to the preseason hype in Week 1 with five pressures and the other sack. He can play inside or outside.
And with DJ Reader set to make his Lions debut Sunday against the Bucs, he and Alim McNeill could quickly form one of the better interior duos in the NFL. They both had 34 quarterback pressures last season. McNeill, who was quiet against the Rams by his standards, broke into a smile Monday taking about Reader eating up double-teams when he returns, "so I'm gonna be able to get some one-on-ones."
"I’m really, really excited to see when DJ comes back how this goes, how this plays," said McNeill. "I think it’s going to be great. We're definitely going to stuff the run and we’re going to be able to get after the quarterback."
And you could hear the smile in Campbell's voice Tuesday when confirming that Reader is ready to return: "Oh yeah, oh yeah."
"Hutch and Davenport on the perimeter, I think they complement each other really well," Campbell said. "You can see the power and length and the ability they both have. But then when you’re talking about up the middle now, with Mac and Levi and we’ll get Reader back here, you talk about pushing the pocket and creating chaos and destruction in there, we have that ability up front."
On Sunday, they can really show it.