Detroit Lions Notes

Notes: Lions still have a top 10 defense per PFF

Despite the recent struggles, the Lions may still have a top 10 defense.

By Jeremy Reisman@DetroitOnLion Oct 19, 2017, 5:45pm EDT

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NFL: Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings

The Detroit Lions defense has had a rough past two weeks, but the according to Pro Football Focus, they’re still pretty good. The analytics website has Detroit’s defense ranked 10th overall based on the average grade of each individual player. Although they’re actually ranked third in the NFC North with the Vikings (first) and Bears (third) grading out higher.

Despite missing last week, T.J. Lang remains a top four guard, according to PFF:

David DeCastro remains our top graded guard through 6 weeks pic.twitter.com/Mz0cw2S43a
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) October 18, 2017

DetroitLions.com’s Tori Petry took an interesting behind-the-scenes look at the Detroit Lions’ strength, conditioning and nutritional programs at Allen Park.

Ameer Abdullah doesn’t have great stats through six games, but he’s been dealt a pretty poor hand by his offensive line and has done admirably:

Ameer Abdullah is 29th in the NFL, averaging 3.8 yards per carry. According to PFF, he's 4th in yards after contact, 2.97 yards.
— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) October 19, 2017

Haloti Ngata spoke with the Detroit Free Press about his potential retirement now that his 2017 season is likely over. “We'll have to see. To be determined," Ngata said.

Lions safety Tavon Wilson was on the wrong side of one of Geoff Schwartz’s Disrespectful Blocks of the Week:

MAY THE SCHWARTZ BE WITH YOU! New Disrespectful Blocks of the Week is here. Mitch Schwartz, Gabe Jackson, Pouncey, Peat and Scherff! pic.twitter.com/PCVEURtc3y
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) October 19, 2017

Former Lions quarterback Dan Orlovsky joined Pat McAfee—former NFL punter—to discuss what it was like to be a part of the Lions’ 2008 winless team. Orlovsky jumps on around the 20-minute mark.

Mansur Shaheen of Lions Wire has a really good breakdown of just how thoroughly the Saints edge rushers dominated the Lions’ offensive line (and tight ends) all game on Sunday.