The Detroit Lions defense saw some of the talk this week about injuries affecting the unit and came out to prove a point on Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers.
“I can’t say what I want to say but you know how it is, I’m going to show you,” safety Kerby Joseph said after the Lions’ 34-31 victory at Ford Field, then turned and rummaged in search of his Brian Branch T-shirt — the one depicting his backline partner giving Packers fans a double-bird in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in Detroit’s Week 9 win.
Thursday, the Lions were without 12 key defenders in the front seven — and specifically three defensive line starters not already on injured reserve: Josh Paschal, D.J. Reader, and Levi Onwuzurike — but they produced enough stops in Detroit’s 34-31 win to clinch a playoff spot in the NFC.
“A lot of people doubted us,” said rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold, who finished with three tackles as well as a pass interference penalty in the end zone on a drive in which Green Bay scored a touchdown. “They thought the injuries and all this, they thought that was going to hinder us. But what they fail to realize is, man, we’ve been playing like this the whole year. It’s ‘next man up,’ and like AG (defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn) preach, we are a team full of savages.”
Detroit held Green Bay to seven points in the first half before surrendering two touchdowns in the second half on Green Bay’s first two drives, vaulting the Packers into the lead. Green Bay scored on four of its final five possessions — three touchdowns and a field goal.
Though it wasn’t a perfect performance, Lions defenders felt like they put together a defining performance, with just enough stops. And they did it against a Packers team who, they said, spent a week disrespecting them, including tight end Tucker Kraft calling out Joseph as a “dangerous” player.
“You talking about mac-and-cheese Kraft?” Joseph said to a reporter after Thursday’s game.
He then added: “I don’t know who that boy is. I mean, really, bruh? … People just talk crazy on the internet but when they see me, they don’t really do nothing though.”
His rookie teammate in the secondary, Arnold, agreed.
“The game was kind of chippy because their players were saying a lot of stuff about us,” he said. “And one thing about it, we don’t tolerate disrespect. All disrespect must be addressed.”
Packers quarterback Jordan Love completed 12 of 20 pass attempts for 206 yards and one touchdown. Love struggled with pressure in the first half and only had 31 yards on three completions at the break; in the second half, he completed nine passes for 175 yards.
“They were saying craziness, like Jordan Love is about to pass for 430 or some (expletive) like that, but that was disrespectful,” cornerback Carlton Davis III said. “I think he had like 200 passing yards and then we gave up some B.S., so we’ll see them again next year, or hopefully in the playoffs, but it’s not over yet.”
The Packers’ first touchdown of the second half came after targeting Davis, who returned from a knee injury, twice. First, he got beat by Christian Watson deep for a 59-yard gain, and then Love fit a tight pass to Kraft over Davis’ outstretched hand for a touchdown.
“If I didn’t have on this big-ass cast, but as I said earlier, I ain’t making no excuses,” Davis said. “I’m out there, I’m about to play ball and I felt like I touched one of the balls and I just got to be better.”
Plug and play
Middle linebacker and signal caller Jack Campbell didn’t realize the Lions lost another key defender in the win. He learned in the locker room afterward that defensive tackle Alim McNeill entered concussion protocol and did not play a snap of the second half.
“I saw when BB (Brian Branch, who left with cramping) went down,” Campbell told the Free Press. “I mean, it just speaks testament to the character of the guys in this locker room.”
The Lions lost McNeill, their lone remaining starter on the defensive line, after observers signaled down to the field following the defense’s fourth snap of the game. He returned to the sideline before halftime, but he was pulled again at the break due to a head injury. Branch, meanwhile, exited on Green Bay’s final drive with cramping after grabbing at his right calf.
Detroit leaned on reserves such as Pat O’Connor and new signees Myles Adams and Jonah Williams to help plug in the holes on the defense, while new contributors David Long III and Ezekiel Turner played alongside Campbell on the second level.
“AG makes it, no, it doesn’t matter who’s in there, how many injuries we have, the standard is the standard,” said Turner, who joined the team in mid-November and finished with one tackle (on a Jordan Love scramble on the final drive). “We’re going to play at this high level no matter who’s in there and just let it loose, just play fast. And that’s who the Detroit Lions are.”
The new contributors showed up all over the field for Detroit. Former Packer Za’Darius Smith, acquired in a trade with Cleveland last month, sacked Love on the first snap. Long recovered a fumble forced by Davis. Adams had three tackles from the edge.
“The culture with the defense, you see it every week,” Turner said. “No matter who’s out there week to week, we’re playing fast, we’re flying around trying to tackle guys to the ground.”
With the win, the Lions are now the first NFC team to clinch a playoff berth, doing so on the back of a makeshift defense doing just enough to make the offensive fireworks pop.
But the Lions defenders have their goals set much higher than just a wild-card sport.
“That’s cool, but we want to clinch the top spot,” Davis said. “I ain’t really about to celebrate until we get the top spot.”
Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22, and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.
