It’s basically a full-blown narrative that the Detroit Lions can’t defend against mobile quarterback data back to several seasons. And it’s a reputation well-earned. For all of Justin Fields’ struggles when he was with the Chicago Bears, he seemed to have his best games against the Lions. Detroit’s worst defensive performance last year came against Lamar Jackson, whose mobility in the pocket absolutely killed the Lions.
So, understandably, many Lions fans are looking to this week’s matchup against the Arizona Cardinals and are extremely worried about quarterback Kyler Murray, who did this last week:
THE MURRAY MAGIC IS STRONG TODAY 🪄 pic.twitter.com/FYDZCoSRNH
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 15, 2024
And this:
Marv down there somewhere pic.twitter.com/iPa9UVsfOM
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 15, 2024
So how will the Lions stop Murray this week? Can they stop him this week?
Myself and Erik Schlitt discussed this—and several other topics—on this week’s Midweek Mailbag podcast, which you can listen to below. Here’s a snippet of that conversation.
NOTE: If you’re looking for a written mailbag, we did one on Tuesday that you can read here.
Many are often curious of Detroit will utilize a spy to help box Murray in, but defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn brushed that idea aside long ago. Instead, it’s a safe assumption Detroit will attempt to be very disciplined with their pass rush.
“You’re going to have to play fast and keep your lanes,” Schlitt said. “You’re going to have to do that, close the pocket, and then crush the pocket, as opposed to just cutting (Aidan) Hutchinson loose.”
Detroit has obviously failed to do that in the past, but there’s reason to believe they could be better equipped to do it now, and it starts with their performance last week. Yes, Baker Mayfield got out of the pocket a couple of times, and finished with 34 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown, but Detroit also sacked him five times. He lost more sack yardage (39) than he gained rushing (34). In my opinion, that’s a pretty big win for the defense considering what Mayfield did to the Commanders last week.
The presence of an interior pass rush thanks to guys like Alim McNeill, Levi Onwuzurike, and DJ Reader has already helped them enclose that pocket in ways they couldn’t when Hutchinson was their only pass rushing threat.
“I don’t buy that Baker was (a big) problem last week,” I said. “They sacked him five times. What did he have, two big scrambles? The designed run was, again, one of those things where the Lions threw rock, the Bucs threw paper. It was a bad play call against a good play call and they got exposed. But, my goodness, they were on Baker Mayfield all day, and one of his big scrambles was because they frickin’ tackled [...] DJ Reader.”
There’s also a level of futility in stopping mobile quarterbacks. It’s not so much an Aaron Glenn problem as it is an NFL problem. There’s a reason every down-trodden franchise is on the lookout for the next mobile quarterback. It’s because there is no blueprint to stop them. The hope is to just limit the damage.
“Unfortunately, Kyler Murray is the perfect blend of both, where he keeps his eyes downfield, has incredible arm strength, and can run. It’s going to happen again in this game, and you’re going to have to deal with it, because every single defense doesn’t have an answer for this,” I said.
Here are some other conversations we had and their corresponding timestamps:
- (3:15) — What are teams doing to take away the middle of the field for the Lions offense?
- (12:10) — Are the Lions using less play action thus far?
- (15:10) — Why hasn’t Sam LaPorta been productive thus far?
- (20:50) — Has Brian Branch’s move to safety paid off? Was it the right move?
- (30:30) — Surprised Kindle Vildor played before Khalil Dorsey?
- (32:45) — How has Graham Glasgow been at LG? Is interior offensive line to blame for Jared Goff’s issues?
- (36:50) — Why so much off-coverage and zone when the Lions sought out physical cornerbacks?
