Big Cat Country
Gain intel on the enemy as the Jaguars prepare to face the Lions in Week 11.
As the Jacksonville Jaguars prepare to play the Detroit Lions in Week 11, we sat down with Ryan Mathews of Pride of Detroit to learn more about the opposing side.
Question 1: Detroit is coming off an impressive primetime win in Houston, where the Lions overcame 5 Jared Goff interceptions. Is his latest performance a concern or was it more so encouraging how he and the offense fought back?
Goff’s five interceptions were more a blip on the radar than anything else, but we’ve come to learn these blips happen every so often. Last year, Goff had a similar type of performance against the Packers on Thanksgiving when he lost three fumbles and the Lions found themselves in a 23-6 deficit at halftime. Last year, they couldn’t pull themselves out of that hole because their defense lacked the kind of playmaking they have this year – Detroit is currently second in the NFL in interceptions per game (1.4) – but that’s not to say the defense was necessarily bad a year ago, it’s just not what it is today: the third overall defense in DVOA.
That being said, when you step back and see an offense as talented as this one is across the board, you start to understand why Goff’s been one of the most consistent quarterbacks in the NFL over the past two calendar years. He has one of the best offensive lines in football, he’s surrounded by arguably the best set of skill position players top to bottom, and he has a coaching staff that believes in him to make the right play more often than not. It’s easy to see how Goff’s confidence has fed into him becoming a more resilient player in this chapter of his career, and the way in which the offense made plays down the stretch against Houston to win that game is certainly another encouraging data point for Goff’s resiliency.
Question 2: The absence of Aiden Hutchinson is a big one — he was leading the league in sacks, pressures and pass rush win rate before he fractured his fibula in Week 6. How has defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn adjusted to fill the Hutch-sized hole?
Aaron Glenn’s response to the Aidan Hutchinson injury was predictable considering the Lions' defense finished 11th in blitz rate (28.7%) in 2023 and seventh (31.2%) in 2022. In Weeks 1-6, the Lions' blitz rate was 30.3%, just above league-average (28.9%), but since Hutchinson’s injury, the Lions have the highest blitz rate in the league at 40.5%.
It’ll be interesting to see how the addition of Za’Darius Smith will factor into Glenn’s aggressiveness in that respect. Through nine games this season, Smith boasts an efficient 19.1% pass rush win rate, good for 12th among 126 qualifying edge rushers according to PFF. He ranks just behind Nick Bosa, but ahead of other premier pass...
