The crowd fell into a hush. Alex Anzalone held his breath. Derrick Barnes took a knee, removed his helmet and stared into the distance like he'd seen a ghost. Aidan Hutchinson was down, crumpled on the turf and reaching toward his leg like that day in Dallas. The seconds felt like hours inside Ford Field.
"I just got the wind knocked out of me," Hutchinson said after the Lions' 34-10 win over the Browns. "And I knew, I was trying to get up because I didn't want people to start having flashbacks or anything. I couldn't even breathe out there. I was like, 'Damn, get up Aidan, get up,' and I couldn't. So I was like, 'Just give me, like, 30 seconds and I'll be good.' And then we got up and we were good. We're back."
The most significant sight in the Lions' third straight win might have been that of Hutchinson rising to his feet after getting blown up on a block by running back Jerome Ford in the second quarter. As Anzalone said afterward, "When he went down there for a sec and tricked all of us, I held my breath for a second." The Lions couldn't fathom losing him again.
In the end, Hutchinson was fine. He was back on the field for the next drive and really got going in the second half on a day Detroit's defense couldn't be stopped. Playing against a Browns offensive line missing both its starting tackles, Hutchinson had a field day. He had two sacks, four quarterback hits, several more pressures and forced a fumble that the Lions recovered for the second straight week. Right tackle Cornelius Lucas never stood a chance.
"It's what we expect out of him," Anzalone said with a smile. "He better make those plays!"
The sacks are an inevitable product of Hutchinson's talent. He's up to four through four games a year removed from fracturing his left leg. As long as he's out there, he'll continue to pile them up. What matters just as much, maybe more, to Dan Campbell is that Hutchinson helped the defense shut down Quinshon Judkins and the Browns' run game. Cleveland rushed for just 79 yards and 2.9 yards per carry.
"What everybody sees, the quarterback hits, the sacks, the takeaway there, all big things that are right in front of your face. But the guy plays the run, too. Those are the things that, I know for me, I take the most pride in watching," said Campbell. "He can do all of that stuff that gets you all the glory, but he does all the dirty work, man."
To Hutchinson, digging in against the run is no big deal. It's part of his job as a defensive end. He sort of shrugged when asked about it and said, "It's how we do it here in Detroit."
"We put a big emphasis on, you stop the run and you earn the right to rush the passer. That’s kind of the philosophy," Hutchinson said. "Had a lot of opportunities today, too, missed a couple tackles, but I think overall we did pretty good in the run.”
The Lions allowed two chunk plays through the air, but Hutchinson also got pressure on Flacco to thwart a couple others. That was it for the Browns on offense. The Lions picked off Flacco twice and held him to a passer rating of 39.3, his lowest in eight years and one of the lowest of his career.
When Hutchinson is wreaking havoc like he was on Sunday, "everyone just gets confidence off of it," said Anzalone.
"Especially in coverage, you can start playing routes a little differently. You're not playing for a five-second play. You know it's going to be three seconds or less, so it's going to eliminate a lot of routes. it's important for our pass rush to get home, especially with how much man we play," he said.
Through four games, the Lions are tied for first in the NFL with 14 sacks. Hutchinson is tied for fifth in the same category with Myles Garret and Danielle Hunter. He gave everyone a scare on Sunday, then picked himself up and resumed terrorizing the Browns.
"He plays with his hair on fire, he doesn’t take plays off, he’s relentless, he’s aggressive, he’s violent, he’s smart, he’s disciplined, and it’s just good to see him back playing at a high level," Campbell said. "It’s good to have him back, period. My gosh, man. We missed him last year."