The Lions defense is ...back?
It appears so, and this is due to a retooled secondary, a young CB stepping up (not the rookie!), and the Lions' ability to play man coverage. Aaron Glenn with another masterful pivot.
Detroit is officially the king of the NFC and secured the #1 overall seed with another win against the Vikings to end the regular season. In their first matchup, the game came down to the wire, with Minnesota scoring 29 points; that wouldn't be the case in Week 18.
For most of the year, the Lions' defense has been surviving. The defense was good, but overall, the play fell due to a handful of injuries to core players. In their last five matchups, the Lions’ offense has scored 30+ points, but so have their opponents. The Packers, Bills, and 49ers all scored 30+ on the Lions' porous defense.
However, in Week 16, DC Aaron Glenn decided to make a change and moved All-Pro Safety Brian Branch back to the Nickel. Last year, Branch burst on the scene as a second-round pick for the Lions. He had 74 tackles, one sack, and three interceptions in his rookie debut.
Branch became known around the league for his coverage prowess and ability to fit the box when needed from the slot. The Chiefs’ Trent McDuffie and Bills’ Taron Johnson would take home the All-Pro hardware, but Branch had squarely placed himself in the best Slot Defender discussion as a rookie.
The converted Safety from Alabama was ranked the #3 CB1 and #1 overall Nickel at Field Vision. His ability to lock down the slot allowed Glenn to run more man and match coverage. Still, Glenn wasn’t allowed to run man coverage at the volume he wanted to.
To start 2024, Branch was moved back to his natural position of Safety full-time. The move was surprising but followed personnel trends around the league. With the departure of L'Jarius Sneed (Titans), McDuffie would move to outside CB full-time in Kansas City. Ravens’ Safety Kyle Hamilton would move back deep in Baltimore’s reshuffled the secondary. Amik Robertson, brought over from the Raiders, would slide into the Nickel position to replace Branch’s absence.
Detroit has run the 29th most snaps of Nickel this year and was #1 in ‘Base’ defense usage heading into the playoffs. With Branch back at Safety, Glenn wanted to utilize more hybrid 3-4 sets to keep him back deep, using a deep linebacker corp to change up looks for opposing offenses. But, when Derrick Barnes got hurt, Glenn had to pivot to more 4-3 looks, still keeping a ‘Base’ defense on the field.

With Branch at Safety, Glenn could still use him as a man coverage defender as the primary ‘Down’ Safety. Kirby Joseph would play the post, and newly acquired Carlton Davis and rookie Terrion Arnold would play man coverage outside. The tandem of Kirby and Branch has proven to be one of the best Safety duos in the NFL (above). Field Vision’s Havoc Ratings has both Lions’ Safeties in the top 25; only the Bears boast a duo in the top 15 (Byrad and Brisker).
The retooled secondary allowed Glenn to return to playing more man coverage. Only the Browns played more snaps of Cover 1 than Detroit this year. The Lions ran Cover 1 on 35.2% of their snaps. The Lions finished the regular season tenth in Cover 1 EPA/play.
At the beginning of the year, it appeared Glenn had found the right mix, and the move to place Branch back at Safety full-time was working. Though the Lions offense had gone through a rough patch to start the year, after their bye in Week 5, Detroit hung 47 in a drubbing of Dallas. Super Bowl or Bust was in full bloom in Michigan.
Defensively, after Week 6, the Lions were seventh in EPA/play. By Week 10, they had climbed to fourth, even with a dip in overall production. Then attrition finally hit.