Detroit Lions have PFF’s worst defense through 5 weeks

It’s no surprise to anyone who has watched the games that the Detroit Lions have one of the worst defenses in the league. However, considering they’re giving up 31.8 points per game (29th), you might not think they’re the worst defense in the NFL.

But according to PFF, the Lions are exactly that: the worst defense of all 32 NFL teams. On Thursday, PFF’s Anthony Treash ranked every single NFL defense, and he did not hold back when talking about the Lions. Basically, the Lions defense does literally nothing well.

“The Lions rank near the bottom of the league in each of run defense, pass rushing, coverage and overall tackling,” Treash wrote. “They have allowed 0.18 expected points added per rush (highest in the NFL), generated pressure at the sixth-lowest rate (26%), earned the fifth-lowest team coverage grade and produced the fourth-worst tackling grade.”

But besides all that, they’re doing great!

Interestingly enough, in Week 6 the Lions will be facing another defense PFF is not fond of. The Jacksonville Jaguars are 30th on PFF’s list, mainly because of their poor pass defense.

“Jacksonville has given up more expected points added per pass play faced than any team in the NFL,” Treash said. “Rookie CJ Henderson is a bright spot despite his lack of experience, earning a coverage grade above 65.0 in three of his four games played. Outside of him, though, there was no reliable play coming out of the secondary.”

And just in case you’re among those that don’t trust PFF, Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric agrees that these two defenses are among bottom three in the league. Interestingly, they have the Lions and Jaguars swapped: Jacksonville is the worst in the league with Detroit at 30th:

Regardless of which team is the worst, Sunday’s game is likely to be a showcase of offense.