Pride of Detroit
For a second straight offseason, a singular question poisoned the well of any water cooler talk about the Detroit Lions: “When will they give Aidan Hutchinson some help?”
First it was Maxx Crosby, and then it was Myles Garrett. Shortly thereafter, it was Trey Hendrickson—guessing we’ll double back on this after we see what the Cincinnati Bengals look like a month from now. Even after all of those names, it could have still been T.J. Watt or Micah Parsons… Matthew Judon visited? Kash Doll’s involvement means a Za’Darius Smith reunion is happening any minute now…
But while fans scrolled through every rumor and reach, the real answer, much like your loose change or TV remote, came from an unexpected source.
Despite being drafted in the 2017 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints—who put together what is arguably one of the single greatest draft hauls in the history of drafts—Al-Quadin Muhammad is in just his eighth season after not playing an NFL snap during the 2023 season.
And on Monday night, Al-Quadin Muhammad reminded everyone that “help” doesn’t always arrive via splashy trades or big names. In front of the entire football-watching world, right there on ESPN’s latest installment of “Monday Night Football,” Muhammad made the most of his opportunity: six pressures, 2.5 sacks, two tackles for loss, and three QB hits stuffed the stat sheet.
“You know what, I want to thank every player, every coach, everybody that’s in this organization,” Muhammad started his post-game speech upon earning a game ball from Dan Campbell. “Because about a year ago, I was home, I was on the couch. So when you get an opportunity, you make sure you take advantage of it.”
It wasn’t just Muhammad who flipped the script. The defense as a whole delivered a statement performance. We’ll see if Dave from Roseville can peel himself off the couch in time to punch the clock after staying up late to catch the same Lions’ defense he had seen “fail this team for the past two years” hold the best rushing offense from a season ago (18.9% in offensive rushing DVOA) to 19 carries and 85 yards. Baltimore gained over half those yards (48) on four carries on the offense’s first drive.
That’s right, after Detroit took that first round on the chin, they held the Ravens to 37 rushing yards on 15 carries (2.4 yards per carry) across their final nine (9) drives of the game. They sacked Lamar Jackson seven (7) times, backing up the Ravens’ offense 55 yards. They were drive killers. Zach Cunningham stuffed Henry on third-and-goal, and then Jack Campbell forced a strip-sack to keep the Lions up 14-7 in the first half.
“I want to also thank the guys in my room for helping me out this week. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did,” Muhammad acknowledged.
And right alongside Muhammad, Hutchinson had his own say in silencing lingering questions. After a quieter first half on Monday evening,...
