Tag: Ifeatu Melifonwu

Listen: Dan Miller calls the Lions game-clinching INT

Listen to voice of the Lions Dan Miller call Detroit’s game-clinching INT

Dan Miller has been the radio voice of the Detroit Lions for a long time. Like the fans, he’s suffered through a lot of losing football over the years.

So who better to call the team’s first division title in 30 years than Miller? The longtime broadcaster and iconic voice couldn’t hide his excitement when Ifeatu Melifonwu picked off the Minnesota Vikings’ last-gasp pass to seal Detroit’s 30-24 victory on Christmas Eve.

The Lions shared Miller’s play-by-play call of the clinching interception, Detroit’s fourth of the afternoon.

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Quick takeaways from the Lions harrowing road win over the Vikings

Quick takeaways from the Lions harrowing road win over the Vikings that seals Detroit’s first-ever NFC North title

The Detroit Lions are the NFC North champions. I repeat: the Detroit Lions are NFC North champions!

It took a harrowing, exciting win over the Minnesota Vikings on Christmas Eve to seal the franchise’s first division title in 30 years. Detroit held on for a 30-24 win when Ifeatu Melifonwu picked off Vikings QB Nick Mullens near the goal line to end a very scary threat by the home team to ruin the holiday spirit for millions of Lions fans everywhere.

Here are my quick takeaways from watching the Week 16 triumph in real time.

Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens had an unprecedented reaction after a sack

Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens reacted to a second-quarter Lions sack in a way I’ve never seen before.

Nick Mullens is the Minnesota Vikings’ fourth quarterback this season, following Kirk Cousins, Joshua Dobbs, and Jaren Hall. He’s been up and down during Minnesota’s Sunday game against the Detroit Lions, with big plays for both teams, but I found this reaction to a sack from Detroit safety Ifeatu Melifonwu late in the second quarter… because I have never seen a quarterback do this before. Melifonwu got home free on an overload blitz, sacked Mullens, and then Mullens… bowed to his opponent.

No, really.

Because I’m a nerd, I went back and watched all of Mullen’s sacks this season, and he’s never done THAT before. Perhaps Mullens was binging “Karate Kid” movies this week, but I’m not sure that’s acceptable behavior in that particular dojo.

Film room: Lions aggressive defense against the Broncos helps set the tone

Film room: Lions aggressive defense against the Broncos helps set the tone

Over the last several weeks, I’ve had some criticism towards the Detroit Lions defense. It was all warranted. They weren’t playing up to par and were getting torched on just about every possession. To fix it, the Lions had to make some tough decisions. They had to bench veteran players such as Jerry Jacobs and Tracy Walker.

This opened the door for players such as Khalil Dorsey, Ifeatu Melifonwu and Kindle Vildor. Love it or hate it, the defensive moves were needed. It appears to have provided a spark and hopefully, it’s one that wakes up other defenders that tend to sleep walk through some of these games.

One of the key adjustments the Lions needed to make on defense was to become more aggressive. Against the Broncos, they did just that. Russell Wilson went 18-for-32 with 223 passing yards and a touchdown.

But the pressure got to him as he was sacked twice and he was marked with four bad throws, per Pro Football Reference. In addition to that, Wilson was blitzed 15 times in this game and it led to 22 total pressures for the Lions defense. Let’s jump into the tape and take a look at some of the blitzes the Lions dialed up against the Broncos on Saturday night.

Starting with one of the biggest plays of the game, we direct our attention to the play above. The Broncos come out with their ’12’ personnel (one running back and two tight ends). To respond to it, the Lions defense have a single-high safety over the top of their defense and they’ve got a safety down in the box.

The safety down in the box is Ifeatu Melifonwu and the moment the ball is snapped, he fires up-field on a blitz. As quarterback Russell Wilson fakes the hand-off to the running back, he begins to roll to his right. Before he can even get his eyes downfield to try and find a receiver, he’s met by Melifonwu.

This blitz was designed perfectly and not only did Melifonwu hit Wilson for the sack, he also knocked hte ball out. This led to a fumble that was recovered by defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs. Even though the Lions offense weren’t able to put up any points after this turnover, it was a much needed play for the Lions defense. They needed to make a stop with the Broncos threatening to score. Additionally, this was a play that I’m sure helped build confidence for the Lions defense.

Next, I want to highlight another blitz made by safety Ifeatu Melifonwu. The Broncos come out in their ’11’ personnel (one running back and one tight end) but they’re in a condensed set with a slot receiver and tight end aligned near the tackles.

Once the ball is snapped, you can see how the Lions defensive backs rotate into what appears to be a Cover-2 look defensively. This gives them a two-high shell on both sides of the field but the key is Melifonwu. Once the ball is snapped, he flies towards the quarterback and his pressure forces Wilson out of the pocket. With good coverage by the Lions secondary, Wilson is forced to throw this ball away and the Broncos have to punt the ball away.

In this game, Melifonwu played a season-high 62 defensive snaps. He had one of the most productive days of his career. He had 9 total tackles, one sack and two pass deflections for a Lions defense that desperately needed a spark.

The last play I want to focus on is a blitz from defensive back Brian Branch. On the play above, the Broncos come out in a 2×2 set out of a shotgun formation. Aligned in the slot at the bottom of the screen is Brian Branch and he’s going to get a good pressure on this play.

Once the ball is snapped, the Lions send a 6-man pressure with Branch and Anzalone blitzing. Meanwhile, the Lions play man coverage on this and despite a miscue in the secondary (see the WR 17 on the bottom), the pressure from Detroit is real and it causes a bad throw.

As Branch blitzes, Wilson locks onto Jerry Jeudy on his right and is intending on taking a shot downfield. However, Branch delivers a shot to the back of Wilson and it causes this ball to float into the air and ultimately land incomplete. This forces the Broncos into a 3rd down but it’s good to see that despite being up 25 points, the Lions defense still has their foot on the gas.

With the Lions pushing for a division title and a shot at the playoffs, this defense will need to continue to be aggressive. Blitzing and putting trust in having good coverage downfield is one of the key ways this defense can keep the opposition at bay. It’ll be interesting to see what changes the defense continues to make with three games left in the regular season. One thing is for sure, they took a step in the right direction against the Broncos and hopefully soon, we’ll see Gardner-Johnson and McNeill back in the lineup too.

Best and worst PFF grades from the Lions win over the Broncos

Best and worst PFF grades from the Detroit Lions’ Week 15 win over the Denver Broncos

The Detroit Lions played their best all-around performance in weeks on Saturday night, pounding the Denver Broncos 42-17. Pro Football Focus recognized the dominance by giving the Lions their best team grade since the Week 5 win against hapless Carolina and Detroit’s second-highest score for the season. The overall grade of 87.9 is the team’s third-best since the start of the 2016 season.

Detroit’s player grades reflect the impressive overall game.

Snap count notes from the Lions win over the Broncos

Lions snap count notes from the win over Denver, including DB and RB splits and an intact offensive line

One of the first things that jumps out from the Detroit Lions’ snap count notes in the Week 15 win over the Denver Broncos is the continuity of the starters. It’s especially true on offense.

The entire starting offensive line played each and every one of the 66 offensive snaps. It was the first time since the Week 10 win over the Chargers that the team’s top five — Taylor Decker, Jonah Jackson, Frank Ragnow, Graham Glasgow, Penei Sewell — started and finished a game together. And it showed on the field, with the Lions rolling to almost 200 rushing yards.

Those rushes came from David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs in an almost even split of snaps. Montgomery played 34, while Gibbs got 32. No other RBs played. The Lions also did not use a fullback, though Dan Skipper played eight snaps as an extra tackle and blocking tight end James Mitchell was on the field for six. Mitchell still doesn’t have a single passing game target in his second season.

The wide receiver splits:

Amon-Ra St. Brown – 61

Jameson Williams – 45

Josh Reynolds – 38

Kalif Raymond – 20

Donovan Peoples-Jones – 11

On defense, LB Alex Anzalone was the only Lions player on the field for all 64 defensive reps.

The starting lineup changes in the secondary were definitive. Safety Ifeatu Melifonwu got the nod over Tracy Walker for the second straight game, and Melifonwu played 62 of the 64 snaps. Walker didn’t play on defense. The same was true at cornerback, where Khalil Dorsey replaced Jerry Jacobs. Dorsey (44 snaps) and Kindle Vildor (18) split the outside CB duties, while Jacobs only appeared on special teams.

Aidan Hutchinson’s heavy workload continues. The standout DE played 59 of the 64 snaps, another week over 90 percent participation. Some of that could be a function of the Lions deploying John Cominsky (46) and Josh Paschal (43) with more reps inside as part of a lighter front. Hefty DTs Benito Jones (30), Isaiah Buggs (23), Levi Onwuzurike (14) and rookie Brodric Martin (11) split more reps than usual with the lighter linemen.

Romeo Okwara (18) and Bruce Irvin (11) saw limited action. The Lions used rookie LB Jack Campbell in the SAM role a little amongst his 33 snaps. Derrick Barnes briefly left the game with a shoulder injury, and that held down his snap count to 35. Jalen Reeves-Maybin played 10, while Malcolm Rodriguez returned to the defensive lineup with five. Anthony Pittman played on defense for the first time in 2023, seeing action on four snaps.

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Studs and duds from Lions Week 15 win against the Broncos

The Lions came out with something to prove against the Broncos and every came out firing. Lots of studs in a blowout win for Detroit.

For the first time in over a month, the Detroit Lions looked like playoff contenders. The offense was firing on all cylinders, the defense made plays, and the special teams looked smooth to the point that no one is talking about them.

Coach Dan Campbell challenged his team after the loss to the Bears last week. Coaches and players alike knew they had to come out on a national stage and make an impact, and they did. You look around the NFL, and coaches deliver messages every week, but teams don’t always hear them. This team proved they listen to and respect Campbell.

In a 42-17 win there will be a lot of studs and not a lot of duds. After weeks of focusing on the bad, the time is now to sing the praises of this team.

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Quick takeaways from the Lions dominant win over Denver in Week 15

Lions takeaways on being the aggressor, rookies stepping up, defensive changes that worked and more from Week 15

A drama-free Lions win was atop many holiday wishlists, and Detroit delivered. Boy did they!

The Lions destroyed the visiting Denver Broncos, 42-17, in front of a raucous Ford Field crowd on Saturday night. The Lions dictated the terms in which the game would be played from the start and never relented in being the hunter and not the hunted.

They wore the mindset change well after struggling in recent weeks. This Week 15 victory was never really in doubt after Jared Goff hit his third touchdown pass of the first half to send the teams to the locker room with a 21-0 Detroit lead.

Here are some initial takeaways from watching Saturday night’s game as it played out.

Lions restore their roar in impressive win over the Broncos

The Detroit Lions restore their roar with an impressive blowout win over the Denver Broncos

Coming off a shaky few weeks where the roar sounded more like an anxious and muffled purr, the Detroit Lions found their roar on Saturday night. The Lions roared to an impressive 42-17 win over the visiting Denver Broncos.

The defense deserves a lot of the credit for the team finding its mojo and successful stride. Even though the Detroit offense sputtered out of the gate, the defense was aggressive from the get-go. Two smart personnel changes by coordinator Aaron Glenn paid off from the opening drives. Safety Ifeatu Melifownu created a takeaway with a strip-sack on a gorgeous blitz, while cornerback Khalil Dorsey proved an upgrade in coverage at outside CB over Jerry Jacobs. A smartly conceived, aggressive defense bought time for Jared Goff and the offense to wake up.

And wake up they did! The Lions scored touchdowns on five straight offensive possessions spanning the second and third quarters and into the fourth. The drives covered 80, 61, 81, 75 and 75 yards, with Goff playing some of his best ball of the season.

The run game worked quite well, with Jahmyr Gibbs (100 yards on 11 carries) and David Montgomery (85 on 17) finding considerable success all night. Sam LaPorta scored three touchdowns, setting all sorts of franchise rookie marks with a big bounce-back game. Jameson Williams (four catches for 47 yards) had his first game with more than two catches in his NFL career. His early involvement in forms other than being a straight deep threat really opened things up for Goff, who was largely outstanding after some early yips.

Goff finished 24-of-34 with 259 yards and five touchdowns. He protected the ball well, not turning the ball over and even nicely holding on during a potential strip-sack. Amon-Ra St. Brown also broke out of a mini-slump with a seven-catch, 112-yard game.

The confidence from Dan Campbell’s team was tangible. It was the first time in several weeks that the Lions played like they believed they were the better team. And they proved they were, emphatically.

The Lions improve to 10-4 while the Broncos, losers for just the second time since Week 6, fall to 7-7.

Watch: Isaiah Buggs with the big man fumble return

Lions DT Isaiah Buggs showed off some open-field RB skills in Detroit’s game against the Denver Broncos

It’s always a treat when fans get to see a big man get the ball in the open field. Lions fans in Ford Field got treated to one of the biggest players on the team rumbling and rolling on a fumble recovery early in the Week 15 matchup against the Broncos.

Lions defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs, all 6-foot-3 and 335 pounds of him, scooped up a fumble and rambled 37 yards in the open field to set up the offense. Ifeatu Melifonwu created the fumble with a picture-perfect safety blitz that strip-sacked Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson.

Check out the big man chugging down the field!