While the Lions bolstered their edge rushing unit this week, the interior defensive line may have more opportunity when they play the Texans. Can the Lions capitalize?
All eyes this week are on the Detroit Lions defensive line after the team made an 11th-hour push for pass rush help by trading for Za’Darius Smith. It’s appears Smith won’t play Sunday vs. the Houston Texans . Regardless, the Lions should have optimism about the defensive line’s pass rushing prospects against one of the worst pass protection units in the league in Houston.
Bold prediction of the week: Alim McNeill logs 2+ sacks against C.J. Stroud and the Texans
Alim McNeill has always been a relatively good pass rusher, but he’s been under a spotlight since the Lions lost Aidan Hutchinson in Week 6. He hasn’t shied away, stepping up as one of the Lions’ best pass rushers in Hutchinson’s absence.
McNeill tends to show up in bursts of a few weeks at a time, and luckily for the Lions, he’s in one of those bursts right now. He finished the Dallas game with two sacks. While he hasn’t logged a sack since, don’t misinterpret that as him not rushing the passer. McNeill finished last week’s game against the Packers with seven pressures. That’s an absurd number for any defender, but even more impressive for an interior defensive lineman.
If McNeill can carry that momentum into Week 10, he’ll have plenty of opportunities to set his sights on Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud. The Texans offense has allowed 31 sacks this season, tied for second-most in the league. That includes last week’s game against the Jets, when Stroud was sacked eight times—talk about seeing ghosts on Halloween!
The Texans are looking for answers by shuffling their offensive line ahead of Sunday night’s matchup. After losing starting LG Kenyon Green to a shoulder injury for the foreseeable future, the Texans are moving center Juice Scruggs to left guard and asking backup center Jarrett Patterson to take over in the middle.
This won’t be a cakewalk for McNeill, though. He will have his hands full against this run offense, too. Texans running back Joe Mixon has rushed for over 100 yards in five of his six games this year, including the each of the last four since returning from an ankle injury. That means McNeill won’t be able to pin his ears pack and get up the field in pass rush as often as he did last week unless the Lions defense can force the Texans into obvious passing situations.
McNeill might have to do it on his own again, just like last week. While the Liosn are getting Josh Paschal back, Detroit is still going to be shorthanded without Smith. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn did show more pressure from the second level against the Packers as the game progressed, and that could be a theme this weekend to help McNeill in cleanup duty.
The Lions will be counting on McNeill continuing his hot streak in pass rush for at least one more week while Smith gets settled in Detroit. He’ll have plenty of opportunities, but McNeill can’t lose sight of his primary job in run defense. It’ll take a little extra effort to turn pressures into sacks, but if the stars align, we could see the third multi-sack game of Alim McNeill’s career.