DETROIT — The honeymoon is over for Aaron Glenn.
The Lions defensive coordinator has drawn all kinds of love from all kinds of places during his year-plus in Detroit. Two of those places, Denver and New Orleans, actually interviewed him for head-coaching vacancies last offseason. He didn’t land either gig, but remains one of the hottest names in coaching.
Now just one month into the season, it is getting more difficult to understand the staggering issues with his defense that, outside of one half against Washington, hasn’t even sniffed competency. They had allowed the most points in the league heading into the weekend, then got wacked again in a 48-45 loss on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. They’re now 1-3 after the first month of a once-promising season that has devolved into frustration.
Frustration, because the Seahawks are one of the worst teams in the league.
Frustration, because the Seahawks have one of the worst offenses in the league.
Frustration, because the Lions’ offense — losing offensive playmakers by the handful, forcing them to finish this game with four guys on the field who opened the season on practice squads — continued to punch and punch and punch again. They didn’t have Amon-Ra St. Brown, D’Andre Swift and DJ Chark, which forced them to start Quintez Cephus, then they lost him too. They’re still without two starting offensive linemen, including Pro Bowler Jonah Jackson. Then they lost Evan Brown at right guard, forcing them to turn to someone named Kayode Awosika on the very end of their bench.
Jamaal Williams still ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns anyway, while Jared Goff threw for 378 yard and four touchdowns. Against all odds, it was the best offensive performance of the season for a team that already ranked second in the league in points scored.
Yet they still lost, because one of the league’s worst defenses got worked over for another 48 points. The Seahawks ended their first eight offensive possessions with a touchdown or field-goal attempt, and failed to score just twice all afternoon. Jason Myers missed a 39-yard field goal in the third quarter on a bad snap, then Geno Smith took a knee to end the game. That’s it. Otherwise, they scored at will.
The Lions didn’t punt at all, a franchise record for them. After punting just once against Aaron Glenn’s defense last year.
Just 21 games into a total rebuild, no one expected this defense to be perfect. Not after what Matt Patricia did to it. Undoing those years will take time, and 21 games isn’t enough of it. But 21 games into this thing, with two full free-agent classes and two full draft classes and two entire offseasons to figure this thing out, not to mention those 21 games themselves, the Lions should have reached at least competency by now. And they’re clearly not there.
The Seahawks were averaging 15.7 points coming into this game. They needed just two series to nearly match that, scoring 14 points while shredding the middle of Detroit’s defense. At one point, Seattle actually drew up a designed run for quarterback Geno Smith from the 8-yard line. Smith had just 15 rushing yards on the season, but wasn’t even touched while waltzing into the end zone.
Smith also ran for 17 yards on third-and-long to set up another touchdown, plus ran for 13 yards on another third-and-long to set up a field goal. He finished with five carries for 51 yards overall, most of which came in the first half, and all of which helped one of the worst teams in the league build a 14-point lead on Detroit’s home turf.
But the Lions came out punching in the second half. Jamaal Williams ran for a 51-yard touchdown, the longest of his career. T.J. Hockenson caught an 81-yard pass, the longest of his career, which set up Josh Reynolds for a 2-yard touchdown catch. That closed Detroit to within a score, somehow, at 38-31.
Then Seattle came right back the other way for a 10-play drive that covered 78 yards and led to a field goal. Jyst like that, two-score game again.
Hockenson punched back, adding a 4-yard touchdown pass to a career day for him. That closed Detroit to within 41-38 late in the fourth quarter.
Then Seattle — you guessed it — came right back the other way. It converted a third-and-2 to extend the drive and keep Detroit’s offense on the sideline, then converted a third-and-5 that, well, didn’t keep Detroit’s offense on the sideline, because Rashaad Penny took that handoff 42-yard touchdown. Two-score game again.
No matter how much the offense did, the defense gave it right back and then some. Aaron Glenn’s honeymoon is over. Yes, there are injuries. But there are injuries everywhere. The good teams figure it out anyway. The Lions’ offense already has. That thing rolls on even if they’re starting a practice-squad offensive tackle as their fifth guard on the left side, then roll out somebody named Kayode Awosika as their sixth guard on the right side.
Instead, another season finds itself on the brink after just one month.
Let’s get to some more instant observations from the game.
— T.J. Hockenson caught 10 passes for 82 yards in the first three games of the season. That would be good stuff for a lot of tight ends in the league, but Hockenson — a former top-10 pick and Pro Bowler — is not built like a lot of tight ends. Yet he was on pace for his worst season since he was a rookie. Not that he was sweating it.
“I’ve just been trying to stay calm and be sure I’m ready to go when my number’s called,” Hockenson said during a chat in front of his locker after practice on Thursday. ”It’ll come. I’m not worried about that. We’ll see.”
A few days later, we saw. Hockenson caught eight passes for 179 yards against Seattle, 81 of which came on one of the best catch-and-runs you will ever see from a tight end. Hockenson caught a 6-yard pass from Goff, then stepped out of one tackle attempt before stiff-arming linebacker Cody Barton while sprinting down the left sideline. Hockenson didn’t go down until he was 81 yards downfield, a career long, and it could not possibly have come at a more opportune time. Seattle had just surged ahead by two touchdowns thanks to a clock issue that gave them a re-do after a third-down stop.
Backs were up against the wall, and Hockenson delivered a field-flipping 81-yard catch-and-run. Two plays later, Josh Reynolds fought through an ankle injury and defensive holding to grab a fabulous 2-yard touchdown catch that made it a one-score game once again.
Big stuff from 88, finally. He later tacked on a second touchdown catch for good measure, too.
— Let’s talk about that play clock snafu real quick. The Lions had finally gotten a stop on third-and-long late in the third quarter, but the officials waved off the play because someone messed up the play clock in the stadium — not that you could really hear it over the thunderous (and understandable) boos inside Ford Field. Then on the very next play, still facing third-and-forever, Rashaad Penny ran up the middle for a 36-yard touchdown that stretched the Seahawks lead back out to 38-23. That’s a tough break, no doubt about it. The clock operator erred, and it cost the Lions dearly.
But the Lions didn’t lose because of it. They lost because they couldn’t get stops before that play, or after that play — including on the very next play. The middle of their defense sucks. No other way to put it. And the Seahawks exploited it time and time again. That’s why Detroit lost, even if, yes, it obviously was victimized by horrendous officiating errors once again.
— The Lions lost all three interior offensive linemen, and continued to run for more yards per carry than any other team in the league. Then they lost their leading rusher, D’Andre Swift, and still continued to run all over Ford Field, a real testament to both depth and scheme. Jamaal Williams has been productive as the complementary back all year, rushing for a league-high four touchdowns in the first three weeks of the season. With Swift out on Sunday, Williams ran for two more big touchdowns against Seattle, including a 51-yarder where he delivered a nasty stiff-arm en route to the longest touchdown run of his career. He finished with 108 yards on 19 carries overall.
Detroit did miss Swift in the passing game though, where Williams dropped another crucial pass.
— The Lions racked up 45 points despite playing without top skill players like Amon-Ra St. Brown, D’Andre Swift and DJ Chark. That forced them to start Quintez Cephus and Tom Kennedy, then Cephus was lost to an injury too. But the Lions found their way in the second half, with guys like running back Jamaal Williams and tight end T.J. Hockenson stepping up in the passing game. At receiver, few stepped up quite like Kennedy, a training camp darling who has spent the season on the practice squad. In fact, he remained on the practice squad for this one too. But he earned a one-day elevation due to the injuries, then ran out of the tunnel as a starter — and then caught three passes for 54 yards, which was good enough to lead Detroit until Hockenson got cooking. Two of them here huge too, moving the chains on both third and fourth down at critical moments. Huge stuff from a guy who is returning to the practice squad on Monday, but might be called upon again if the injuries persist.
— Seahawks receiver D.K. Metcalf raised some eyebrows when he said Jeff Okudah was a good cornerback, but wasn’t a “lockdown” cornerback because of all the help he was drawing over the top. I don’t know why eyebrows were raised, either. (Although I’m sure one local outlet snipping out the “he’s a good cornerback” part didn’t help.) Yes, Okudah was good the first three weeks of the season. Yes, he also received a lot of help, especially last week in Minnesota. Nothing Metcalf said was untrue — and then Metcalf feasted on the Lions for seven catches and 149 yards, lots of which came with Okudah in coverage. That includes a 54-yarder where Metcalf simply outran Okudah on a go route. One play later, tight end Noah Fant beat a busted coverage by Kerby Joseph for a touchdown that stretched Seattle’s lead to 24-9 in the second quarter.
Okudah’s upward trajectory is a real thing, and one of the best developments from a one-win opening month. He’s playing more competent football than ever, offering hope that maybe, just maybe, the former third overall pick is on his way toward becoming the kind of player he was drafted to be. But this game offered a reminder that he’s still just four games back from a devastating injury. Let’s not anoint him as something he’s not.
— Dan Campbell has remained optimistic about his struggling defense, at least publicly. But if you needed proof of his internal alarm, look no further than the fake punt in the first quarter. Don’t take anything away from punter Jack Fox either, a high school quarterback who has a legitimate arm. He threw a 15-yard dime from the right hash to the left sideline, and Quintez Cephus did just enough to make a catch that was upheld upon review. With that, Fox has completed 3 of 4 passes for 44 yards in his career, and the lone incompletion was a drop. Having an arm like that at punter is a nice weapon, and we’ve seen Detroit roll it out in key spots before. But the first quarter of a game against Geno Smith and the lowly Seahawks? While in their own territory? That’s not a fake punt bourne out of tactics, but desperation. Detroit had allowed back-to-back long touchdown drives to that point, and hadn’t put up much resistance along the way. So Campbell kept them off the field with the fake. It worked. It also shows just how mistrusted this defense is heading into the second month of the season.
— Rookie Kerby Joseph beat out JuJu Hughes and Ifeatu Melifonwu in an open competition to replace captain Tracy Walker, who was lost for the season to an Achilles injury. Hughes replaced Walker in Minnesota, but blew a couple costly assignments, one of which left a Minnesota receiver running all alone to the end zone for the game-winning touchdown in the final minute. Joseph played no defensive snaps in the game, nor the first two weeks either, after just moving to the position in his final season at the University of Illinois. The Lions wanted to bring him along slowly. But with Walker out for the year, their hand was forced.
Joseph got off to a rough start, allowing a 17-yard touchdown pass to tight end Will Dissly on the game’s first drive. It wasn’t rocket science, either. Joseph had inside position, but never looked back for the ball, and the 6-foot-4 Dissly simply caught the ball over the rookie’s head. Joseph’s rough day wasn’t over yet either, blowing a coverage on a 2-yard touchdown catch by Noah Fant in the second quarter.
— Austin Seibert drew a lot of ire from Lions fans after missing two attempts last week in Minnesota, including a crucial 54-yarder that helped lead to the Vikings’ winning touchdown in the final minute. But Seibert has battled soreness in his groin since that day and still hasn’t practiced. So the Lions signed Dominik Eberle off the practice squad, who finally made his NFL debut after bouncing between six teams in his first two-plus years in the league. It didn’t go well. Eberle missed both of his first two point-after attempts, forcing the Lions to go for 2-point conversions until late in the fourth quarter. He also sent a kickoff out of bounds. Just an embarrassing performance in his first NFL game, and he should be looking for a new team next week.
— Cornerback Amani Oruwariye left the game in the fourth quarter with a neck injury, while backup center Evan Brown — playing right guard for the injured Halapoulivaati Vaitai and Tommy Kraemer — left the game at the 2-minute warning. That forced the Lions to finish the game with two guards who opened the season on practice squads, Dan Skipper and Kayode Awosika.