Toothless Lions defense approaches franchise records for ineptitude

Justin Rogers

| The Detroit News

After watching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers effortlessly hang 47 points on the Detroit Lions — marking the third time in five weeks the team’s defense has allowed at least 40 in a loss — recency bias might have left you wondering: Is this the worst defense in NFL history?

Well, no. In terms of points, you have to go back more than 50 years to find the holder of that distinction. The 1966 New York Giants, thanks in large part to a 72-41 loss to Washington, allowed an unmatched 35.8 points per game that season. That one might not be topped for some time.

And when it comes to yardage, the 2012 New Orleans Saints are the only franchise to surrender more than 7,000 yards, a mark these Lions are nearly 800 yards shy of hitting.

But this Detroit team, if it can’t pull it together for the season finale against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, still might end up with the dismal distinction of allowing the most points and yards per game in franchise history.

The latter is already a near-certainty.

After allowing the Buccaneers to rack up a regulation-record 588 yards from scrimmage for an opponent on Sunday, the Lions are 263 yards short of sinking below the 2008 squad, which gave up 6,470 yards during that winless season.

Points, on the other hand — that could be a photo finish. That 2008 squad allowed 517 points. The Vikings would need to score 36 on Sunday to reset that mark. That’s something they haven’t done this season, but certainly not out of the realm of possibility given they posted 34 against the Lions in a Week 9 victory and 33 in a Christmas Day loss to the Saints.

The Lions go into the finale giving up an average of 32.1 points per game. And even if they hold the Vikings to 30, they’d still become just the fourth team in NFL history to allow opponents to average at least 32.0 points on a season, and the first since they did it in 2008.

And to think, on paper, the Lions appeared ready to turn a corner defensively entering the 2020 season. After slogging through the implementation of former coach Matt Patricia’s scheme the past two years, the team added pieces at all three levels that brought schematic familiarity. That was doubly important this year after the offseason program, an important time to build chemistry, was wiped out by the pandemic.

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Up front, the Lions added defensive tackles Danny Shelton and Nick Williams via free agency, which figured to bolster the run defense. That’s the starting point of any strong defensive unit.

As for the pass rush, the upgrades were more modest, with the selection of Julian Okwara in the third round of the draft and the swapping of Devon Kennard with Jamie Collins, who was coming off a career-high 8.0 sacks in New England a year earlier.

The Lions made their most significant changes in the back end, overhauling the secondary by trading for veteran deep safety Duron Harmon, signing former Pro Bowler Desmond Trufant and selecting Jeff Okudah with the No. 3 pick in the draft.

That influx of talent was designed to offset the loss of cornerback Darius Slay, who was dealt ahead of needing a contract extension, but also because his relationship with Patricia had become toxic and unsalvageable.

Yet, for multiple reasons, the pieces never came together.

Injuries unquestionably played a part. Trufant barely played this season due to a recurring hamstring issue, while Okudah never hit his stride after battling through multiple injuries before groin surgery ended his year.

Defensive end Trey Flowers, last year’s prized free-agent addition, only played seven games before an arm injury landed him on injured reserve, while Julian Okwara spent nine games on IR before he was activated ahead of last Saturday’s game against Tampa Bay.

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But injuries happen and they can’t be an excuse. More concerning was the regression of some of the team’s top young talent. Linebackers Jarrad Davis and Jahlani Tavai have both had disastrous seasons and likely won’t be here for whatever the next incarnation of this defense will be in 2021, while safety Tracy Walker went from playing near a Pro Bowl level to looking like a overwhelmed rookie.

About the only thing that’s gone well for Detroit’s defense has been the re-emergence of Romeo Okwara, who has a career-high 9.0 sacks through 15 games. And, go figure, he’s an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

When factoring in expectations against results, this year’s defense supersedes 2008’s failures, even if the latter was worse, statistically.

Points and yardage aside, the staggering inefficiency of 2008 won’t be topped. And when compared against the average defenses of their respective seasons, which reflects effectiveness relative to era, it’s even more clear the 2008 unit, like just about everything else from that year in the franchise’s history, was the true floor.

But like 2008, this current low won’t easily be scrubbed from memory. An aggressive rebuild is on the horizon, of both the scheme and personnel. And whether they shut out the Vikings or give up a record-tying sixth 40-point game, it will be the conclusion of yet another dark era of Lions football.