1 interception represents how Detroit Lions became division champs the old fashioned way

Admit it.

You feared the Detroit Lions were about to lose, as the Minnesota Vikings found some explosive plays and marched downfield. There was under a minute to play on Christmas Eve Day, and the Vikings were 30 yards from the win.

After Aidan Hutchinson chased Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens from the pocket, he fired a pass to Justin Jefferson, who was wide open near the end zone.

Lions fans were well within reason to cringe and freak out: Oh no, this can’t be happening.

But it was a horrible pass that wobbled through the air and forced Jefferson to come to a complete stop.

Lions safety Ifeatu Melifonwu was in the middle of the field — in precisely the right spot — watching the play unfold like a center fielder. He didn’t hesitate. He trusted his instincts, broke on the ball and grabbed it, seemingly off his own shoulder pad.

Interception.

Game over.

Victory for the Lions.

NFC North champions.

“It was first career interception, so thank God for that,” he said in the locker room. “I was just in the post, I saw Justin Jefferson in the middle, eyes up at the quarterback and I jumped him … I feel like it was a matter of time. My time was coming.”

Let’s get one point out of the way first: a better quarterback would have turned that into a touchdown. So be it.

But here is another point to be made: Melifonwu made the play because of how he has grown over the last three seasons; and he was named the NFC Defensive player of the week after making five tackles, recording two sacks, defended two passes and made that huge interception.

It was a tremendous accomplishment for him.

But it was also noteworthy for the entire Lions organization.

Melifonwu represents one slice of an even bigger story: how the Lions have identified talent and developed it. They drafted a long, tall corner with elite athleticism in 2021, convinced him to play safety, stuck with him through injuries, coached him up, taught him a new position, re-trained his mind, gave him a new skill set and he was in the right spot to make the play when it mattered the most.

There’s nothing Iffy about it.

When you do that with enough players.

When you find talent and develop it.

And when you turn enough elite athletes into playmakers, you have found the roadmap to turn a perennial loser into a champion.

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A difficult change

After the Lions picked Melifonwu out of Syracuse, general manager Brad Holmes was asked if Melifonwu would play safety, and he side stepped the question.

“You know what, I’ll leave that up to A.G. — Aaron Glenn — and Aubrey Pleasant,” Holmes said after the draft. “Personally, I do think that he has versatility to do everything. I think he has versatility to play outside, to play back deep and even to play inside in the matchup on big guys. That versatility, he has. But I’ll leave that up to A.G. in terms of where he feels like best fits.”

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Melifonwu had never played safety at Syracuse, and he wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of switching.

“What was that transition like?” I asked him on Wednesday in the Lions locker room.

“The transition was tough, honestly, because I wasn't fully bought into it,” he said. “Because I've been a corner really all my life and so it was a difficult conversation, a difficult decision-making process. And then on top of that, while I was transitioning, I got injured.”

Actually, he got injured several times. He missed 17 games in his first two seasons after suffering a serious quad injury in 2021 and an ankle in 2022. Then, he broke his finger earlier this season.

“So it kind of stunted my growth and development,” he said.

Truth is, he had a lot of growing to do.

Playing safety required new skills, a new approach, a new mentality and more responsibility. Suddenly, instead of being hyper focused on defending a wide receiver, he had to learn how to widen his scope and view the entire field. He had more responsibility, making sure the cornerbacks were in the right spots and got the calls. He had to learn how to come down in the box and take on blockers. And he had to learn how to do it all without thinking.

“It's like you're the quarterback back there,” he said. “It's more mental.”

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Coming out of his shell

Finally healthy, he got his first start at Chicago, and he did well enough to get a second one against the Broncos. It was clear that he had improved his overall play — his communication, his techniques, his tackling and taking on blockers.

By the time he played against the Vikings, he found a new type of confidence.

“It's my first time really seeing him come out of his shell,” said Lions safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who has been out with an injury. “I hope he continues to thrive and he continues to do what he’s got to do.”

Ah yes, that brings up an interesting situation.

At some point, when Gardner-Johnson will be healthy enough to play, the Lions will have to make a decision at safety.

“Best guy plays,” Glenn said.

But maybe the Lions will do something different.

Maybe, the Lions can figure out a way to use the best attributes of their safeties, and more importantly, all their different skill sets.

“I’m a big fan of safeties that have a corner background,” Glenn said Thursday. “That’s one of the reasons he’s here, because he’s able to cover like we need to, like a corner, but he is tough enough and physical enough as a safety to get down in the box and go make plays.”

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The Lions' defense has struggled to get sacks. They get just 2.3 per game, which is tied for 24th in the NFL.

But Melifonwu gives the Lions another guy who can get after the quarterback. In his last two games, he has three sacks.

“If you watch this player in practice when we go through some of our blitz looks and things like that, man, he does a hell of a job blitzing,” Glenn said. “And you see why he has the sack production he’s had over the last couple of weeks. So, hopefully he can continue that trend.”

As Campbell said Thursday: "Everybody just assumes, ‘Well — is it Iffy or C.J.?’ Well, why? Why would you assume that? So, when he comes back, we’ve got options. We’ve got really good options. We’ve got football players, playmakers and so we’re — it’s a great problem to have.”

There is nothing Iffy about it. It's not a problem.

Iffy is suddenly a luxury, an emerging game wrecker, and he represents one of the reasons why this team has become the King of the North.

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff.

To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How Detroit Lions used old-fashioned tactics to build a division champ