Detroit Lions pile up 7 sacks in dominant defensive performance, beat Falcons, 20-6

They were angry and irritated and mad, at everyone slandering their defense after last week’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks but mostly at themselves.

“We were hot,” Detroit Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill said. “That’s the best way to put that. We were definitely hot and we knew we had to come in here and do what we needed to do.”

The Lions had their best defensive performance of the Dan Campbell era Sunday, beating the Atlanta Falcons, 20-6, in a “get back” game at Ford Field.

They racked up seven sacks. They held the Falcons to 183 net yards of offense. They gave up their fewest points since a 31-0 win over the Green Bay Packers in 2018.

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And they got back to playing the punishing, violent, relentless style of defense they want to be known for.

“I think that those are prideful guys in there,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “We’ve got players that it means something to them, and so do the coaches. We’re collectively trying to help ourselves get a little bit better, and I thought A.G. (Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn) did a great job with the game plan.

“We wanted to find a way to generate a little more pressure, and we did that with a couple of things that we did. But also, guys really showed up. They really won their one-on-ones today, a lot of guys. And we fought on the back end, we really did.”

One week after giving up 37 points in an overtime loss to the Seahawks and with one collective sack to their credit through two weeks, the Lions had their most complete defensive effort of the young season Sunday.

Six different players accounted for the Lions’ seven sacks. Rookie Brian Branch had three tackles for loss to key a run defense that held Atlanta’s vaunted ground game to 44 yards on 20 carries. And Aidan Hutchinson forced a Desmond Ridder fumble that he recovered with 1:59 left to seal the game.

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“Last week was rough,” said Hutchinson, who had his first two sacks of the season after racking up seven quarterback hurries the first two weeks. “It was a game that we had our eyes on, and they got the better of us defensively. So we wanted to come out this week and prove a point and I think we did that.”

The Lions got important contributions Sunday from their talented rookie class on both sides of the ball.

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Branch, a second-round pick out of Alabama, was the defensive catalyst with 11 solo tackles and two pass breakups. First-round pick Jack Campbell added his first sack on a Hail Mary play at the end of the first half. Fellow first-round choice Jahmyr Gibbs ran for 80 yards on 17 carries in his first career start. And Sam LaPorta set an NFL record for catches by a tight end in his first three games.

A second-round pick out of Iowa, LaPorta had eight catches for 84 yards and scored the game’s first touchdown on a 45-yard pass from Jared Goff early in the second quarter. He has 18 catches for 186 yards in his first three games.

“He’s a stud,” Goff said. “I think the most exciting part about him, and I’m sure he’d say this is, he’s not even playing as well as he really could. There’s still some rookie things that happen here or there that the sky’s the limit for him and it’s going to play with him for hopefully a long time.”

LaPorta, Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown (nine catches, 102 yards) accounted for most of the offensive production as the Lions struggled with consistency at times playing behind a patchwork offensive line.

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They entered the game down two starters on the line, left tackle Taylor Decker and right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai, and lost right tackle Matt Nelson and his backup, Dan Skipper, to injuries during the game. Rookie fifth-round pick Colby Sorsdal, who played guard most of training camp, played the entire second half at right tackle.

Goff finished 22 of 33 passing for 243 yards, with one touchdown pass to LaPorta and one touchdown run on a designed 3-yard keeper. He also threw an interception for the second straight week. This time, the defense made sure it didn’t come back to hurt them.

Trailing 13-3 late, Falcons safety Jessie Bates picked off a Goff pass intended for St. Brown on the final play of the third quarter.

The Falcons started the ensuing possession at the Lions’ 43-yard line, but went four-and-out after Ridder threw incomplete on third-and-5 and Branch forced another incompletion with tight coverage on Drake London on fourth down.

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The Lions took over at their own 38, and Goff led a seven-play, 62-yard touchdown drive. Gibbs carried four times on the drive for 37 yards, and Goff faked a handoff to the rookie running back on third-and-goal from the 3 and scampered in for the Lions’ second touchdown of the day.

The Falcons (2-1) drove to the Lions’ 6-yard line on their next possession, but settled for a field goal. And Hutchinson ended Atlanta’s hopes of a comeback two minutes later with his sack-fumble on Ridder.

Ridder finished 21 of 38 passing for 201 yards, and rookie Bijan Robinson, the NFL’s second-leading rusher entering the day, had 33 yards on 10 carries.

The Lions (2-1) are tied for first place in the NFC North with the Green Bay Packers, who they play Thursday night at Lambeau Field.

“This is the no sleep and do whatever you got to do to stay awake and put together a great game plan (week),” Campbell said. “And for the players too. They’ve got to have recovery and that can be their sole focus. I mean, they got to do everything it takes to get their bodies back by Thursday. So it’s not easy on anybody, but that’s what we’re charged with.”

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions defense shuts out slander, nearly Falcons in 20-6 win