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Aaron Glenn: 'You're damn right' Detroit Lions can win Super Bowl with this defense
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- Aaron Glenn: 'You're damn right' Detroit Lions can win Super Bowl with this defense
Injuries have knocked the Detroit Lions defense from its perch as one of the top-ranked units in the NFL, but Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said the team still is getting good enough play on that side of the ball to win a Super Bowl.
"You're damn right we can do it," Glenn said Thursday. "The thing that we have to continue to do is make these impact plays that we've been making and we're going to continue to do that."
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The Lions, with six defensive starters currently on injured reserve , have allowed more than 30 points in three of their past four games and enter Week 18 with the NFL's 31st-ranked pass defense.
They didn't force a punt in last week's game against the San Francisco 49ers , but got two big defensive plays in the second half on Kerby Joseph interceptions.
Detroit Lions linebacker Jack Campbell (46) and safety Brian Branch (32) tackle Chicago Bears wide receiver DJ Moore (2) during the second half at Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill. on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024.
Joseph leads the NFL with nine picks and the Lions are tied for eighth with 24 takeaways. Of the seven teams in front of them, six have qualified for the playoffs and the seventh — the Denver Broncos — can earn a postseason bid this week.
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Glenn said the Lions' "top players outwilled (the 49ers') top players" last week and pointed to timely stops the defense got from Joseph, Brian Branch and Amik Robertson .
He said the Lions "absolutely" can win a Super Bowl by continuing down the path they're on, and pointed to past Super Bowl champs like the Baltimore Ravens (2000), New Orleans Saints (2009) and New England Patriots as evidence.
"Listen, are we where we need to be defensively? Not at all," Glenn said. "We understand that. But where you are is we're making impact plays at times we need to make them and I'm proud of our guys for doing that."
More: Lions' Jared Goff, Vikings' Sam Darnold lead stunning turnaround by castoff NFL QBs
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Johnson vs. Flores
The Minnesota Vikings have allowed 30 or more points just six times in 33 games with Brian Flores as defensive coordinator. The Lions, with Ben Johnson calling plays, are responsible for three of those outings.
Johnson was wide receivers coach with the Miami Dolphins in 2018 when the team hired Flores as head coach. Flores did not retain Johnson on his staff, and Johnson joined the Lions a few months later as a quality control assistant.
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16), left, talks to offensive coordinator Ben Johnson before a play against Chicago Bears during the first half at Ford Field in Detroit on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024.
"I knew of him cause he's a Boston College guy and that's where I did my GA spot, and of course he was at New England and we faced across the sideline there for a number of years," Johnson said. "But I didn't get to know him. I met him at the combine a couple of years ago. Seems like a great guy, has a great reputation.
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"When he took that job in Miami, he had a staff already in his head with who he wanted so I was let go and that was that."
The Vikings rank fourth in the NFL in points allowed (18.8 ppg). While the Lions have consistently found ways to score on Minnesota's defense, Johnson said he has a great deal of respect for Flores as a coach.
"He does a great job," Johnson said. "Each week you try to find a weakness in the armor and look to attack it, and this defense, it just doesn't have much. It's been that way for two years now.
"You can tell that this whole unit, they've been together, they've been playing in this scheme, they have the answers. They know when they get hit with something how to respond. He always has a curve ball every week. I think ( Packers coach) Matt LaFleur said last week they weren't anticipating quite as much man as they got there early in the game and had to make some adjustments. There's no question as a coaching staff, all of us, we have to be on our P's and Q's and just make sure we're able to respond if he's hitting it with something that we weren't necessarily prepared for."
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Honor roll
With the hiring cycle set to open Monday, Johnson continues to be at the center of the head-coaching rumor mill.
He's long been considered the favorite to fill the Chicago Bears ' coaching vacancy, though reports surfaced this week that Bears general manager Ryan Poles "has reservations" about hiring Johnson. The Bears fired coach Matt Eberflus after a Thanksgiving loss to the Lions, but Poles' future as GM remains murky.
Johnson also is considered a frontrunner for the Jacksonville Jaguars job, should the team fire coach Doug Pederson. The Jaguars also have a decision to make on general manager Trent Baalke.
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One of the most coveted assistants on the market, Johnson is expected to remain picky about his next landing spot and only consider organizations that have good quarterbacks and the right ownership and front office structures in place.
Asked Thursday how he drowns out the noise about his future, Johnson said, "This is exactly where I need to be right now and I think I've talked about it before, there's an obligation to the people in this building and I'm going to honor that obligation. It's nothing but the Minnesota Vikings right now."
Detroit Lions place kicker Jake Bates (39) attempts a field goal against San Francisco 49ers during the second half at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. on Monday, Dec. 30, 2024.
Lesson learned
The Lions allowed their first blocked extra point of the season Monday against the 49ers on the type of A-gap pressure that's become common in the NFL this season.
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Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said earlier this year teams were starting to rush harder on long snappers because officials were calling fewer penalties for contacting snappers as defenseless players.
"The game is like a living, breathing thing, in my opinion," Fipp said Thursday. "Everything kind of moves. The league is trying to make sure that they balance player safety and they also get the entertainment that they want, the officials are trying to do what the league wants them to do, and so they say, 'Hey, we don't – that's a little bit too much for us.' Or, 'That's not enough to warrant a flag.'
"And so, the game kind of adjusts as you're playing it, and ultimately, we talked about it, inside there in the A gaps, it's kind of a moving target a little bit right now."
On Monday, 49ers defensive tackle Jordan Elliott hit Lions long snapper Hogan Hatten from the side, knocking Hatten to the ground, before blocking Jake Bates ' kick with his right hand. Bates missed a second extra point wide left when the 49ers didn't manage much rush.
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"Ultimately, Hogan got caught off guard and that shouldn't have happened, and that starts with me and then trickles down to him," Fipp said. "I mean, the whole rest of the game they did the same thing and we protected it fine.
"So, ultimately for us, I'd say it's a lesson we've got to learn. You hate learning things the hard way, and that's really my job to prevent that from happening. And so, anyway, we've got to get ready for this week and get it fixed.
"I think we kind of fixed it in the game, so I feel good about it going forward, but yeah, it's shouldn't have happened, I was disappointed."
Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, " Detroit Lions : An Illustrated Timeline." Order your copy here.
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Contact Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Aaron Glenn: 'Damn right' Lions can win Super Bowl with this defense
