Notes: Charles Harris receives national praise: ‘Best game I have ever seen him play’

Detroit Lions Charles Harris may have played his best game as an NFL defender against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Prior to that game, his career high in tackles for a single game was six. He doubled that with 12 against Kyler Murray and the Cardinals. He also set a career high for tackles for loss in a game (three) and was a half-sack short of tying a his career high (1.5).

Harris is in the midst of his best career season after failing to reach expectations as a first-round pick for the Miami Dolphins. He had never had more than 2.0 sacks in a season with Miami, and he only had 6.5 sacks going into 2021. He already has 7.5 sacks with Detroit.

“Charles has been a relentless player for us all season long,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said this week. “He’s a nuisance to quarterbacks, but he plays the run as well.”

Harris has mostly flown under the radar outside of Detroit, but after his 12-tackle performance, he’s started to get some national attention. Former NFL offensive lineman and current television analyst Brian Baldinger clipped highlights of Harris’ Week 15 performance, calling it the “best game I have ever seen him play.” Check it out:

Of course, Baldinger finished with a conclusion that many have come to this year when looking in the Lions’ direction: Dan Campbell is getting these players to give their highest effort every time they step on the field. I’ll say it; it’s weird to be getting this much positive attention for a 2-11-1 team, but it doesn’t feel wrong, either.

• Really solid film breakdown from Chris Burke at The Athletic ($) about how the Lions out-coached the Cardinals and a handful of plays that really gave Arizona trouble.

• Your weekly Penei Sewell update: still dominating:

• Kyle Meinke with a good opinion piece on why all of you people angry the Lions aren’t tanking can go kick rocks.

• Alex Anzalone landed on IR earlier in the week, and he’s headed to free agency this offseason. But a message like this certainly suggests he may want to stick around in Detroit:

• Trey Flowers has been named the Detroit Lions’ 2021 Ed Block Courage Award recipient. The award is given to the player who “exemplifies sportsmanship or has overcome injury and/or adversity to excel on the field. More on that over at DetroitLions.com.

• Just for fun, let’s check in on Chicago Bears fans: