Allen Park — For the second time this season, the Detroit Lions are playing a team that was expected to be a contender in 2025, but has instead fallen to the wayside due to significant injuries at the quarterback position.
The Washington Commanders, last year’s NFC runner-up, are in a poor spot at 3-6 and missing their starting quarterback, Jayden Daniels, for the foreseeable future. But this will be the fourth time Marcus Mariota has started in Daniels’ place this season, making him more dangerous than your typical backup quarterback.
“Absolutely no difference at all. That offense is that offense, and they have full trust in Marcus Mariota,” Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said Thursday. “If anything, he’s bigger and a little more physical. … Mariota’s 220, 230 (pounds). He’s a physical player, and he’s not looking to slide a lot. He’s looking to convert, get first downs.”
The Lions also had another high-profile matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 5 that had the wind taken out of its sails when Joe Burrow went down with a significant injury. The Lions won, 37-24.
Mariota, a former No. 2 pick (2015), certainly hasn’t lit the world on fire in his three starts, but he’s provided quality backup play for the most part, guiding the Commanders to a 1-2 record with a 27-point showing in his first loss. This season, Mariota has completed 63.6% of his passes for 639 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions.
In Washington’s lone victory with Mariota at the helm, 41-24 against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sept. 21, he went 15-for-21 passing for 207 yards, a passing touchdown to go with 40 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.
“You see the team rally around him. … You watch that Las Vegas game … you’re like, ‘Wow.’ Up-tempo, right at your face, not hiding anything about it. You see him at the end of half in those games, they trust this player. It’s not a conservative approach to it,” Sheppard said.
“They’re down the field, striking just like it was (Daniels) back there. So, we’re looking at it all the same.”
Low-hanging football
Lions kicker Jake Bates had a field goal blocked for the first time in his career in Sunday’s loss to the Vikings, and it ended up being a monumental moment of the game.
With the Lions looking to make it a 4-point game with 6:29 left in the fourth, Bates’ 45-yard attempt was blocked by Levi Rodriguez, returned to Detroit’s 26-yard line by Isaiah Rodgers, and turned into 3 points on the other end, which ended up being the difference in a 27-24 loss.
Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said Thursday that the kick was blocked because of the trajectory, not because of a bust in protection.
“Anytime that happens, what’s really going on is the kicker’s hitting the ball just a fraction higher up on the ball with his foot, and so it comes off flat and low,” Fipp explained. “It’s kind of a similar thing that would happen on a mishit on a kickoff that ends up being a squib — he hits a little high on the ball and it looked like his foot caught the turf a little bit before the ball, and probably hit off the ground and ricocheted up a little bit.
“So, he hit it high on the ball, which obviously is unfortunate.”
Linebacker blitzers
Two Lions players are tied atop the leaderboard for sacks by off-ball linebackers, Jack Campbell and Derrick Barnes. Each player brought their total to four with sacks in Sunday’s loss to the Vikings.
The Lions’ linebackers having success as pass rushers has added a whole new, unpredictable element to a defense that’s second in the league in sacks (28).
“It’s the players understanding the whys behind why we’re asking them to disguise certain things, why we’re asking them to use certain rush techniques this year,” Sheppard said.
“Because at first you go into this, you’ve got to get belief in the players. Schematically and all this — I’ve talked to you guys about this — you can be a guru all you want. If you don’t have full belief in your players — because they have to have belief to really go out and take the real effort to do the little minute details.”
Not all of those sacks have been directly schemed, though. The Lions’ defensive line has rushed the passer with extreme discipline, which has allowed linebackers to clean up the mess when Detroit’s coverage holds up.
Sheppard said Lions defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers, who joined the coaching staff this past offseason, is responsible for teaching him how to structure rushes to keep contain and clean up in the sack department.
“A lot of this stuff is second effort, a guy breaks contain, here comes the guy wrapping around to go get him on the ground. So, I credit the players, man. It’s detailed, it’s structured. I credit Kacy Rodgers for a lot of this stuff,” Sheppard said.
“He’s opened my eyes to different ways, creative styles of how to change things up, but it’s all the same to the players because he knows that’s my belief philosophy-wise as a defense. So, just outstanding job by the staff, and outstanding job by the players, but we’ve got to push forward and continue to get better.”
TeSlaa uptick?
A lot of focus regarding the offense’s struggles has been placed on the run game, but one area that’s missing from the operation this season is consistent production from a third receiver. Josh Reynolds was that guy in 2022 and 2023, and Tim Patrick took over that role in 2024.
Kalif Raymond and Isaac TeSlaa, who have combined to function as Detroit’s third receiver, have a combined 118 yards receiving. Raymond has 205 offensive snaps (40.8%) to TeSlaa’s 104 (20.7%), prompting some to wonder why TeSlaa, a third-round pick this past spring, hasn’t been more involved in the offense as the Lions work out the kinks.
Lions offensive coordinator John Morton said feeding TeSlaa is on his to-do list.
“We’re going to get him the ball more, and that helps with the other guys so they’re not always playing 65, 70 plays,” Morton said. “But we’re real happy with where he’s at.”
As far as physical profiles go, TeSlaa and Raymond could not be more different, so they’re not exactly interchangeable as players. Raymond is 5-foot-8, 180 pounds, and TeSlaa is 6-foot-4, 214 pounds.
“All these guys have a different skillset and they’re all going to play. So, I think that’s important,” Morton said. “And yeah, we’re going to get (TeSlaa) more involved. It’s just sometimes when he’s in, does the read take him there? That’s just what happens.”
Correcting kickoffs
The Lions’ kickoff unit was somewhat of a disaster on Sunday, putting the defense behind the 8-ball when it allowed a 61-yard kick return before Minnesota’s opening drive. The Vikings later returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, but it was called back due to a holding penalty.
While there were plenty of other factors that contributed to Detroit’s loss, its inability to cover kicks set the tone for what was a particularly miserable day. Still, Fipp isn’t concerned about the coverage going forward.
“I mean it’s nothing super dynamic. They did a good job executing,” Fipp said of the 61-yard return. “I mean, it comes down to fractions. It’s inches. … Before every one of those kicks, you’re nervous about the outcome just because it can go one way or the other.
“Really the second one that was called back on a penalty, I mean we had hands on the guy back there — whatever, at the 25-yard line — and the guy slid off the tackle and then it turns into a huge play. And then the first one, we had a guy have his hands on a guy at the 40-yard line and he got off that tackle and made a big play. But ultimately, it’s my responsibility. I’ve got to do a better job of getting these guys in a better position so that they can get better contact on the ball and bring them down.”
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