Carlos MonarrezDetroit Free Press
I had a classmate named Danny when I was in elementary school. Danny more often than not came to school – sorry, but there’s no other way to say this – with boogers around his nose.
One day, Danny showed up and the boogers were gone. I was happy for him. Kids stopped teasing him. Then, just as suddenly, the boogers returned.
The Detroit Lions’ defense reminded me of Danny on Sunday when it finally wiped the boogers away with one of its best performances in one of its best starts to the season under coordinator Aaron Glenn, in a 20-13 victory at Arizona.
Give Glenn and the defense plenty of credit for playing well enough for the Lions (2-1) to have won all three games this season. But I’m not ready to wipe away all the previous doubts I’ve had about Glenn and his defense, even though it's ranked 10th overall in yards, fourth against the run, third on third down and eighth in scoring after Sunday.
Sorry, but I’m not ready to crown Glenn a mastermind and declare his defense totally fixed and elite. It’s just too early for that.
If you don’t believe me, you can ask Carlton Davis III. When the veteran cornerback was asked by reporters in Arizona how he felt about shutting down the Cardinals’ third-down offense, which led the league after two weeks, he rightly pumped the breaks.
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“It's still early in the season, so that can shake any way,” he said. “Like I said, they had a great first two games, but sometimes that could be a little inflated because (it’s) only two games.”
Now it’s only three games. For you math nerds out there, that means the Lions still have 82% of their schedule to play.
And let’s not forget that the entire schedule isn’t created equal. After the Seahawks come to town Monday night, there’s a bye week and then a five-game gauntlet that includes four road games against Dallas, Minnesota, Green Bay and Houston.
So let’s see how they handle Dak Prescott, the totally unbiased refs and whoever’s coaching the Cowboys by then. Let’s see how they handle Sam Darnold (Sam Darnold?) and the undefeated (undefeated?) Vikings. Or how they deal with Jordan Love at Lambeau, or C.J. Stroud and a second trip to Texas in five weeks, which is entirely too many trips to Texas.
We’ll know a lot more by then about the defense. But I understand we can only go on what we know now, which indicates that the defense is playing well and, in fact, better than the vaunted offense.
If I weren’t the generous, kind-hearted soul everyone knows me to be, I might have a little fun suggesting the offense is only struggling because coordinator Ben Johnson’s back is hurting from so many years of carrying Glenn and his defense. But I would never do that.
Don’t get me wrong. I give Glenn’s guys full credit for stopping a Cardinals offense that hung 41 points on the Rams the week before. But as I pointed out before Sunday, there were several anomalies from that Rams game, including the first perfect-passer rating of Kyler Murray’s career. It was also the first time in two years the Cards scored 40 points.
Still, it was an impressive game for the Lions’ defense, which pulled it off without linebacker Alex Anzalone. The team captain and the heart and soul of the defense missed the game while dealing with a concussion. The defense also lost linebacker Derrick Barnes to a knee injury in the first half. And they still held Arizona’s running backs to 2.5 yards per carry.
The biggest question of all for the defense entering the season was the secondary, and especially the cornerbacks. Through three games, the secondary appears to be much improved.
Rookie Terrion Arnold is getting targeted a lot, but he’s holding his own for the most part and doesn’t seem to let failure faze him. Davis has been solid and dependable in coverage.
Brian Branch is really taking to switching from nickel to safety and looks like he’s part of every play. His hard-nosed style paid off with a team-high nine tackles and two passes defended against the Cardinals. It tells me a lot that even I was surprised when Marvin Harrison Jr. scored on a route Branch and Davis defended.
And that was it. Just one measly touchdown for the Cards.
And just 77 measly rushing yards for Arizona to go along with 207 measly passing yards. Murray was consistently harassed. He was rushed, contained, hit four times and sacked once by Aidan Hutchinson.
“I think that was our best defensive game I’ve ever been a part of, just collectively,” Hutchinson, who led the NFL with 6½ sacks after Sunday, told reporters in Arizona. “It’s not like we were sacking the quarterback that much. But I think, with what they were giving us, we executed the game plan really well.”
Now comes a different challenge for Glenn and his defense. Their depth will be tested and will have to keep playing at a high level without two key players. Defensive end Marcus Davenport’s arm injury looks like a season-ender and, coach Dan Campbell said Monday, Barnes’ knee injury doesn’t look a whole lot more promising.
The news was better on Branch (concussion) and defensive tackle Alim McNeill (shoulder), who Campbell described as day-by-day.
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Injuries are inevitable in football, but it’s a shame the Lions’ defense is getting hit so hard so early, because everyone wants to see if this unit has the ability to keep up its early, promising success.
It would be quite the triumph if Glenn can keep this going while being shorthanded. If he can, I’ll be the first one to publicly praise him and the defense after the Houston game in Week 10. But if the boogers come back, you’d better believe I’ll be pointing that out.
Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@cmonarrez.
