Pride of Detroit
I’m getting closer and closer to nailing these predictions; soon one will hit. If the Detroit Lions’ secondary had snagged both interceptions that they should have had last week against the Baltimore Ravens, I would’ve hit my prediction from last week. It was a tall ask, but the fact that it almost happened makes me believe this week will hit.
This week, the Lions play the Cleveland Browns, arguably the best defense they have seen so far this season. The best part about the Browns’ defense is the strength of the Lions’ offense, stopping the run. While the Browns have had a strong start, they haven’t seen a running back like the Lions’ studs in David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. In their Week 4 showdown, I think the Lions get the best of the Browns’ run defense and continue their success from last week.
Despite the Lions having a 15-2 record last season, the game with the most rushing yards didn’t happen until their final game of the season against the Washington Commanders, where they ran for 201 yards. They got to that mark quicker this season, rushing for 224 yards in Week 3 against the Ravens. What helped inflate the total yards was the monster 72-yard run by Montgomery, but eliminate that, and the Lions still ran for over 150 yards.
This will be a tough ask for Detroit as Cleveland focuses on stopping the ground game for its opponents. So far, Cleveland has allowed the fewest rushing yards (172), the lowest yards per carry (2.3), and their longest rush allowed was 11 yards. PFF loves the Browns’ run defense too, giving them the highest run defense grade in the NFL (87.4). Overall, the Browns allow an average of 57.3 rushing yards per game, forcing teams to beat them through the air.
In their victory over the Green Bay Packers, the Browns had their “worst” run defense performance so far, allowing 81 yards and 2.6 yards per carry. Packers running back Josh Jacobs had 16 carries for 30 yards as he couldn’t find any success. Back in Week 2 against the Ravens, the Browns held Ravens running back Derrick Henry to just 23 yards on 11 carries. This was coming off his monster performance in the opening matchup against the Buffalo Bills, and Cleveland wasn’t intimidated by him. The running back that had the best success against the Browns so far was Cincinnati Bengals running back Chase Brown, who only got 43 yards on 21 carries, but he has been the only running back to score so far.
When looking at those three opponents overall on the ground, they don’t have an impressive resume.
Cincinnati Bengals
Baltimore Ravens
