The Detroit Lions tend to be somewhat fortunate in terms of the health of their toughest opponents. The Seahawks, Titans, and Vikings all had injuries to their defensive lines heading into their respective games. The Green Bay Packers head into this week’s matchup with the Lions limping along.
Quarterback Jordan Love will miss Week 8’s game against the Jaguars with a groin injury. Since then, he has strung together two limited practices and is scheduled to play Sunday against the Lions, barring any surprises. But playing and playing at 100% are two completely different things, especially at quarterback. This bodes well for the Lions’ defense, especially against a young quarterback who is still error-prone.
This week’s bold prediction: Lions defensive force Jordan Love will have at least two interceptions.
The Lions are coming off their worst defensive performance of the season, but the box score alone won’t tell you that. In Week 8, Mason Rudolph and Calvin Ridley separated the secondary for 15 1/2 minutes before the Lions’ defense woke up and shut down the Titans’ offense. They need to carry that second-half momentum into Green Bay and go up against one of the strongest receiving corps we’ve seen all year.
If the Lions can attack with all their might, I hope the secondary will make a difference. At safety, Brian Branch and Kirby Joseph have combined for nine interceptions on the year and will be looking for more. As a team, the Lions have two multi-interception games and have won two of their last three games, so expect that momentum to continue.
Things don’t look very good for the Packers. Love has a groin injury, but even if he plays, he won’t be perfect. The groin is one of the most important muscles in generating rotational force from the hips to throw a soccer ball. If Love were even partially hesitant, his passes would be just a little slower. And that’s great news for Lions safeties in collecting interceptions.
To make matters worse for Green Bay, starting center Josh Myers is questionable with a wrist injury. If he can’t go, Alim McNeil and the Lions’ inside defensive line will be well set up to have a field day against the inside run. The Lions’ game plan is simple. He stopped the run and forced a pass to the injured Jordan Love.
Even without injuries, the Lions defense should be licking its chops. Jordan Love is still a young quarterback and is making the mistakes of young quarterbacks. He had an interception in all six games he played this year, two of which were multi-interception games. He currently leads the league with nine interceptions, tied with Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield, despite appearing in just six games.
On paper, the Packers are one of the Lions’ toughest matchups yet, but the dominoes are falling in a way that gives the Lions defense a clear blueprint for success on Sunday. Love is limping into Sunday, but the Lions’ secondary should be able to play without fear. If the Packers are losing Josh Myers as well, the whole system is for Aaron Glenn to dare to throw love. Either way, the Lions secondary should show some interceptions and walk away from Green Bay.
