ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions (6-3) are back in primetime this weekend for a test against one of the NFC’s best teams and the reigning Super Bowl champions.
Detroit will face the Philadelphia Eagles (7-2) in Sunday Night Football in a consequential game from one of the NFL’s feistiest environments. Here are three burning questions ahead of the Week 11 tilt:
How will the Lions handle the key positional battles against the Eagles?
There were two key positional clashes worth looking at, and then some injuries put the microscope on those even closer.
The Lions are limping into Sunday night’s game against the Eagles in the secondary, and just replaced a starter on their interior offensive line. Detroit’s interior offensive line has been the weakness in two of its three losses this season.
And they will be tested big time in Philadelphia.
The group of center Graham Glasgow and guards Kayode Awosika and Tate Ratledge will go to war with the likes of Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis.
Davis is a 6-foot-6, 336-pound wrecking ball. He has three sacks, four tackles for loss, four quarterback hits, three pass deflections and returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown.
Carter is already a Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro through his first three seasons. He was a runner-up for defensive rookie of the year and finished 12th in defensive player of the year voting in 2024. Carter has only one sack this year, with nine quarterback hits and two pass deflections. He’s also nothing to scoff at, listed at 6-foot-3, 314 pounds.
Carter is 10th among interior defenders with 28 pressures, and Davis ranks among the top-20 run stoppers with 13 pressures of his own.
Flipping to the other side of the ball, the matchup against Philadelphia’s wideouts was already daunting. Yes, A.J. Brown is frustrated, and his numbers are down. But the Lions are expected to be without top cornerbacks Terrion Arnold and DJ Reed. Amik Robertson is also dealing with a hamstring injury. All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph will also miss his fourth straight game. Arnold has been ruled out, and Reed is questionable, but not expected to play.
If Robertson is hampered, expect a large role for Rock Ya-Sin and potentially Nick Whiteside at outside cornerback. Arthur Maulet will continue to see reps at nickelback, with the Lions leaning on their “Legion of Whom” to answer the tough call.
Brown still has 31 catches for 408 yards and three touchdowns this season. At 6-foot-1, 226 pounds, he’s a tough matchup for any cornerback, and his three-straight seasons with at least 1,000 yards and seven scores speaks to that. DeVonta Smith has taken on a big role this year, leading the way with 48 catches, 657 yards and adding three touchdowns.
Is this the week Tyleik Williams carves out more of a role on the defensive line?
Welcome to our unofficial “tush push” section. We’ve talked about it this week, and it’s something to watch in those crucial third-and-short and fourth-and-short situations.
After beating the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football, the Eagles are 14-of-18 on “tush push” plays through 10 weeks. Their conversion rate is down from previous years, but it’s still a successful play for them, even though everyone knows what’s coming when they line up for it.
The Lions have challenged first-round rookie Tyleik Williams to raise his game. But even defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said he needs to get Williams on the field more. This week’s test against a backfield led by Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley, with the threat of tushes being pushed, is tough.
But Detroit is confident in DJ Reader, Alim McNeill, Roy Lopez and Williams to hold things down. That’s a lot of beef to work with in those short-yardage situations, and the Lions will need all of them.
With Williams on the field, the Lions sport the NFL’s best run defense, allowing just 3.4 yards per attempt. They also rank first with a 32.7% run-stuff rate with the first-round rookie clogging lanes. Without him, they rank 23rd (4.7) in yards per attempt and last with an 8.9% run-stuff rate.
Barkley’s numbers are down, too. But the Eagles have a violent offensive line, and the element of all the things Hurts can do makes this a tall task.
“Yeah, probably one of the most violent units I’ve seen, as far as the offensive line,” Sheppard said. “You turn on the tape -- I talk to you all about this all the time, everybody wants to say, ‘What makes a good coach?’ You’ve got to turn their players’ film on, and that’s what makes a good coach, not somebody that could stand up here and give a dissertation about their scheme and their schematics. Let me see what your players do when I turn the tape on. And his players have performed at a high level and always have, and they still are.
“I don’t care about the numbers and what they say; I know what that tape says. And if you give 26 (Barkley) a lane, he’s going to find it, and he has homerun ability. He’s one of the most elite backs in this league, in this game and that has been.”
What are the main challenges of facing a Vic Fangio defense?
The Lions have given Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio a ton of respect this week. Fangio is a former head coach and has mostly served in NFL defensive coordinator roles since 1995.
Fangio led the No. 1 defense in the league last season on the way to hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. He’s replaced a handful of key pieces with younger ones. It’s another area where the Eagles are down this season, ranking 12th in net yards allowed per pass and 21st in yards allowed per carry.
His defenses are known for utilizing two-high safeties and lighter boxes, relying on the front seven to handle business. The Lions haven’t seen too many light boxes this season. Running back David Montgomery has seen a ton of stacked boxes, and the offense has seen more than most through their first nine games.
Offensive coordinator John Morton said Fangio has remained the same over the years. Morton said he relies on the front to handle the business -- look to Davis and Carter -- while limiting big plays. It could be a heavy day filled with checkdowns if Fangio’s plan stays on track against the Lions.
“Well, he knows himself very well. He knows the opponent, but he knows himself very well, and he’s always been great about that,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “He checks himself; he makes sure that you can’t get a beat on him.
“And it’s the front that really creates a lot of disruption, and it allows those guys to play top-down in coverage. And they play some match coverage. So, they get in your face and they challenge you and then you’ve got to be pinpoint accurate, you’ve got to create separation at the receiver position, you’ve got to play fast ... His defenses are very disciplined, they play together, they play hard, and there’s no secret why teams struggle against them.”
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