The Detroit Lions are rolling as they head into their Week 11 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and they are set to get a big boost on defense, as star pass rusher Za'Darius Smith will make his debut for the team after he was picked up in a trade with the Cleveland Browns. And as he arrived for his first game with his new team, he sent a pointed championship message to the rest of the league.
With the Lions needing help along their defensive line, they went out and got one of the top names on the market ahead of the trade deadline in Smith, hoping he'd be the final piece they needed in order to win a championship. Back in 2004, the Detroit Pistons in the NBA made a similar sort of move when they traded for Rasheed Wallace, before going onto win a title. So when Smith showed up to the Lions clash with the Jaguars repping Wallace's Pistons jersey, his message came across loud and clear.
Za'Darius Smith hoping to make Rasheed Wallace-type impact for Lions
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The Pistons trading for Wallace proved to be exactly what they needed, as they went on a roll the rest of the season, and ended up winning the NBA Finals that year. Smith is hoping to make a similar impact as Wallace did for the 2004 Pistons, as he will be looking to be the final piece that pushes an already talented Lions team over the top.
In nine games with the Browns, Smith racked up 23 tackles and five sacks, and he figures to play a big role in replacing star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson, who suffered a fractured tibia and fibula back in Week 6. If Smith can come in and make a similar sort of impact for the Lions as the one Wallace made two decades ago with the Pistons, the rest of the NFL could be in some serious trouble.
