When Dan Campbell went back and watched his defense against the Cardinals, three qualities stood out: "We played aggressive, we played fearless, we played disciplined." That's exactly what he was looking for after the Lions bled points and yards for the first month of the season.
The strong performance from Detroit defensive line wasn't much of a surprise . The front four, led by Aidan Hutchinson and Alim McNeill, has been a force for most of the season. The Lions had five sacks and held running backs Jeremiyah Love and Tyler Allgeier to under two yards per carry in their 45-21 win over the Cardinals.
"What really showed up, man, was our backend," Campbell said Monday on 97.1 The Ticket's Lions Review. "I thought we played really sticky coverage. We were a little bit more man and match. And man, we were where we were supposed to be in the run game. We fit our gaps. The whole defensive line and the linebackers can do their job, but you get one guy out of position and it compromises the whole freaking defense. Our guys were very disciplined and did a great job there across the board."
The Lions needed more from two players, in particular, in their back seven. Both acknowledged it last week: linebacker Jack Campbell and cornerback D.J. Reed. And both responded with their best performances of the season.
"I thought both of those guys had their best games," Campbell said.
Campbell had a season-high 11 tackles, looked much more like himself against the run, and even held up in some coverage matchups with star tight end Trey McBride, including a 1-on-1 ball down the sideline in the first quarter that sealed the first of five straight three-and-outs for Detroit's defense.
Dan Campbell on keeping his starters in late in 4Q: "Look, I'm with you. It's a fine line ... You want to feel dang sure that you've got it wrapped up. But also, when you feel like you're starting to play some of your best football, you want them to get that feel, that flow." https://t.co/opbrueqY8G
— 97.1 The Ticket: (@971theticketxyt) October 12, 2026
"I thought Jack was all over the field," Campbell said. "We kind of talked about, 'Listen, man: make the call and get lined up and go play ball. And once you’ve made it, you’re done trying to set the table for everybody else. You just do your job,' and I thought he did that. He barked the calls out and then got lined up and played football. We put him on McBride a little bit in some of that match coverage, and he had some help, sometimes he didn’t, but I thought he battled him and held his own. And then the run game speaks for itself, so that was good."
"And I thought this was Reed’s best game," Campbell added.
Reed had been picked on by No. 1 wide receivers over the first month of the season, giving up long gains and touchdowns to Tet McMillan of the Panthers, Garrett Wilson of the Jets and Chris Olave of the Saints. He said himself last week that "my coverage has not been to my standard, by any means." He was much better in a matchup with Cardinals' top receiver Michael Wilson, who entered the game on pace for his second straight 1,000-yard season.
Reed held Wilson to four catches for 30 yards on seven targets, with two key breakups. He was also strong and decisive against the run, with a career-high three tackles for loss.
"I thought he did a heck of a job in coverage, man," said Campbell. "Sticky and he contested all day."
The Lions also got another big game from D.J. Wonnum, who had two sacks for the second time this season. Wonnum now has five sacks in five games, tied for fourth in the NFL, two more than he had in 16 games last season. This is one of the benefits of rushing opposite Hutchinson, who draws so much attention from the opposing offense.
"He’s playing at a high level," Campbell said. "I thought he really bounced back from last week. He played really well in the run and certainly in the pass game. He’s creating issues opposite of Hutch. And man, he keeps doing that, with the firepower we have on that D-line, and you become very dangerous."
Hutchinson weighed in on Wonnum himself this week, praising him for "taking advantage of those 1-on-1s."
"Yeah, I love it. It's great, because if I get more attention during the game and he's wining his 1 on 1s, then teams look at that and go, 'Maybe we don't send the slide here every time. Maybe we gotta switch it up.' So to me, it's a win-win all the way around. We just gotta keep rushing like that and keep playing fast."
