Notes: National analysts can’t stop praising the Detroit Lions

Now that the Lions are making noise in December, weekly analysis pieces at the national media level are starting to include them more often. It kind of feels like cheating to point out material from Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky since they’ve both been ahead of the curve and attentive to the Detroit Lions for a lot longer than everybody else, but the rest of the industry is doing its best to catch up. Keep scrolling because you’re absolutely going to want to see what some other former-players-turned-analysts are loving about the Lions.

First, here’s Mina Kimes bringing some really nice attention to the Lions’ pass defense in a way that meshes very well with what we’ve been talking about recently. Remember position coach Kelvin Sheppard talking about confidence in his linebackers? Remember defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn talking about the importance of solid tackling against the quick game?

Remember what fearless leader Jeremy Reisman told us at the start of the week: the record isn’t as good as we’d like, but you have to think about how the team is playing right now. Well, according to Kimes, the pass defense against the short-rhythm passing game right now is looking pretty spiffy. I mean, you got a bunch of first-place ranks in the most recent stretch for a bunch of advanced statistics, so that’s pretty good, right?

Obviously, Dan Orlovsky’s done a lot of film analysis featuring the Detroit Lions over the years, but here’s another solid one from him. In it, the former Lions quarterback checks out how formation and hi-lo reads out of play action in offensive coordinator Ben Johnson’s offense is working magic with Jared Goff. Be sure to pay attention so you can keep up with Orlovsky’s frenetic pace; it’s worth the watch:

The thing to note about the Lions being the hot team right now, though, is that other folks on national platforms are featuring the Lions in their segments. For example, here’s Darius Butler on ESPN NFL Matchup showcasing the goal line offense attacking the Jaguars and Vikings successfully with play action:

Finally, if even that’s not enough analysis content for you (and let’s face it, there’s never enough) then check this mamma jamma out. I’m not even going to try and summarize here - just take it away Erik Schlitt:

That YouTube video is more than half an hour of Detroit Lions goodness with film breakdowns by former NFL quarterback Josh McCown. If you’re into the X’s and O’s of football, it’s a wonderful time to be a Lions fan. Now, on to the rest of your weekend Notes:

• Holy cow, Ben Raven and Kyle Meinke from MLive had Peter King (yes, that one) on their Dungeon of Doom podcast. In the latest episode (which can be heard on Spotify in a web player), King says the Lions have one of the best rebuilds going.

• On Friday, the Lions posted an Under the Helmet feature with Frank Ragnow. You can watch the nearly 20-minute video in its entirety on the team’s official YouTube channel.

• A fun commercial with the always awesome Barry Sanders (and a contest!):

• Lions quarterback Jared Goff was the featured guest on this week’s installment of Twentyman in the Huddle. You can watch it on the team’s official YouTube channel.

• Lots of Lions players doing awesome things as the holiday's approach:

• Did you watch that whole 30+ minute film breakdown by Josh Norris and Josh McCown and want more 30+ minute Lions-related videos to watch? Vic Carucci at The 33rd Team had a one-on-one interview with former Lions head coach Jim Caldwell, and that video (embedded at the top of their posted article) is 35 minutes long.

• It’s a birthday week for Lions rookie Josh Paschal!

• Be cool guys, be cool.