–Damon Harrison had an impressive Lions debut last week, recording seven tackles, with two for loss, and one sack in a 28-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
The Lions still allowed 176 yards rushing in the game, but they gave up just 3.2 yards per carry (83 yards on 26 attempts) with Harrison on the field compared to 5.6 yards per carry (84 yards on 15 carries) with him on the bench.
“I think he really tried to do some of the things that we needed him to do with him out there,” Lions head coach Matt Patricia said. “There’s certainly some of the situations that came up that will improve with time, experience and the defense itself, some of the techniques and stuff. But I think the effort and everything like that was great. He was really trying to do everything he could to help us in his limited time here. We’ll build on it, we’ll keep going, but it was obviously a first step.”
–Darius Slay has one theory as to why the Lions are creating fewer turnovers this year: Because they’re playing more man-to-man defense.
Slay said the Lions’ change in defensive schemes has produced fewer opportunities for interceptions. The Lions have just two picks through seven games, tied for second fewest in the league, and just one NFL team has fewer takeaways than the Lions’ six.
After playing on one of the more opportunistic defenses in the NFL last season, Slay said the Lions must be better about taking the ball away starting with Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.
“Rough out there, isn’t it?” he said. “It’s rough. I don’t know, man. We got to put it together, find a way. We just got to contribute more, we got to find a way to get the ball back to the offense. The more time we got the ball in our hands, the better we got a chance to win it.”
BY THE NUMBERS: 5.9 – Golden Tate averaged 5.9 receptions a game in his 4.5 seasons with the Lions. On Sunday, the Lions will try and replace Tate using two receivers, TJ Jones and Brandon Powell, who have a combined total of three catches this season.
