BB.WIN WITH A WORRY: Detroit Beats Bengals, But Taylor Decker’s Return Is All Anyone Talks About
The Detroit Lions’ new look offensive line has shown great progress since its struggles in the season opener against the Green Bay Packers. Entering Sunday’s matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Lions’ offensive line had a three-game streak of not allowing a sack, and were looking to extend that mark to four straight games.
While the Lions still came out of Cincinnati with a 37-24 win over the Bengals, many fans were left concerned about the offensive line.
Taylor Decker’s absence on the offensive line felt against the Bengals
The absence of left tackle Taylor Decker, who was out with a shoulder injury, however, caused the Lions’ offensive line to struggle during certain moments of the game.
The offensive line’s struggles began in the first quarter when a promising drive was stalled as Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson recorded a strip sack on Lions quarterback Jared Goff, leading to a Cincinnati fumble recovery. Hendrickson finished the game with two sacks for the Bengals. Defensive ends Joseph Ossai and Myles Murphy also collected sacks for the Bengals.
The Lions’ offensive line allowed four sacks in the win against the Bengals, which tied the season high that the group gave up in the season opener loss to the Packers.
Should Lions fans be concerned about offensive line moving forward?
As the Lions exit Cincinnati with a 4-1 record and prepare to take on the reigning AFC Champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, at Arrowhead on Sunday, the offensive line will need to have a much better showing than they did against the Bengals.
One poor offensive line showing after three straight games of not allowing a sack shouldn’t raise too much concern, given that the Lions were without their key left tackle, Decker. Heading into the game against the Chiefs, Decker’s availability is still uncertain. After struggling in the start against the Bengals, offensive tackle Giovanni Manu will need to step up for the Lions moving forward.
Sunday night’s matchup will be a crucial game for both teams. The Chiefs are starting to find their way after getting off to a 0-2 start, while the Goff will look to get the best of Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes once again and lead the Lions to a 5-1 start.
Goff is undefeated against Mahomes with a 2-0 head-to-head record. One win came with the Lions in 2023 and the other with the Los Angeles Rams in a thrilling Monday Night Football game in 2018.
Lions Expected to Soon Make Massive Aidan Hutchinson Decision
The Detroit Lions know what they have in edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson and aren’t going to let him sniff free agency.
Their only questions are how much to pay the fourth-year defensive end and when, as he is now eligible to ink a contract extension.
“Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson looks destined for a new deal. Both sides have had exploratory discussions about an extension,” Jeremy Fowler of ESPN wrote Wednesday, October 8. “Top pass rushers now make quarterback money, punctuated by Micah Parsons‘ four-year, $186 million deal with Green Bay.”
Fowler predicted that Hutchinson will earn a massive contract somewhere in the range of Parsons’ historic deal, which represents the most money any non-QB has ever received.
“While I’m not sure Hutchinson tops that number, he’ll be among the highest paid at his position whenever this deal gets done,” Fowler continued. “He looked destined for a Defensive Player of the Year award last season before suffering a leg injury in mid-October, and he has picked up where he left off with five sacks and three forced fumbles through five games. Detroit has shown an eagerness to extend its marquee players, and there’s none bigger than Hutchinson.”
Dan Campbell Denies Lions Complained to NFL About How Teams Played Aidan Hutchinson Early in Season
GettyDetroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.
Hutchinson’s leg injury occurred in Week 5 of last year and kept him off the field until Week 1 of this season.
Detroit began the campaign with a road game against the Green Bay Packers, which it lost ahead of a blowout win in the home opener against the Chicago Bears. Adam Schefter of ESPN reported in Week 3 that the Lions observed players hitting Hutchinson in unsafe ways.
“Clearly people have noticed some of these plays, and the Lions want the league office to notice as well,” Schefter said, asserting that Detroit asked the NFL to look into the matter.
Head coach Dan Campbell responded to a question about that report on Wednesday and denied its veracity entirely.
“That’s a bogus report,” Campbell said. “I don’t know where that came from. Nobody from here ever did that. That’s bull.”
Aidan Hutchinson Still Only Real Pass-Rush Threat on Lions’ Defense
GettyDetroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.
Hutchinson started the year slowly at Lambeau Field, but has ramped up his play in the four games since.
He has amassed 12 QB hits and five tackles for loss to go along with the aforementioned five sacks and three forced fumbles. The Lions are 4-1, with four straight victories after losing soundly to the Packers in Week 1.
Detroit faced legitimate preseason questions about whether its defense could generate a consistent pass rush after letting Za’Darius Smith walk in free agency. Those questions were founded, as the Lions have just eight sacks as a team through five games, tying them for 23rd in the NFL in that category.
But the defense has been good enough behind a juggernaut offense that has produced an average of more than 40 points per game over the last month. That said, the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on the schedule the next two weeks before Detroit hits its bye, and the Lions will take on those perennial playoff teams down their top two starting cornerbacks in D.J. Reed and Terrion Arnold.
Those absences will ratchet up the pressure on Hutchinson to disrupt opposing pockets, as the edge rush is the best way to negate a weak secondary, and he represents by far the biggest threat on the defense in that regard.
