Lions defense on takeaway tear; why Dan Campbell thinks its 'here to stay' for playoffs

Dan Campbell called it “the last little element” his defense was missing, and in the past few weeks it appears it’s been found.

The Detroit Lions have forced six turnovers in their past two games and have got back to playing the disruptive brand of defense that made them one of the best teams in the NFL late last season.

They had three multi-takeaway outings in five December games, including a four-interception performance against the same Minnesota Vikings team due at Ford Field for the season finale today.

And with the start of the playoffs less than a week away, Campbell is confident his defense has the goods to succeed against anyone it sees in the postseason.

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“They’re on the come now,” Campbell said Friday. “They’re showing up and we’re playing aggressive-style football. We’re going after the football, we’re getting after the quarterback. Everybody’s doing their responsibility and then our safeties are getting hands on the ball and when they do, they’re making the plays on them. And then just, there again, being able to get to the quarterback and get it out of his hand is showing up. So, I want to believe that’s here to stay.”

The Lions have forced 21 turnovers on the season, tied for 19th in the NFL. But they’ve been on a takeaway tear since Thanksgiving with nine in their past five games.

They turned two Derek Carr turnovers into 14 points in an early-December win over the New Orleans Saints, forced an early Russell Wilson fumble that flipped field position two weeks later in a win over the Denver Broncos, tormented Nick Mullens for four picks in their division-clinching win over the Vikings on Christmas Eve, and had two takeaways in last week’s heartbreaking loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Six different Lions have had a hand in the takeaways: Ifeatu Melifonwu, Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch have two interceptions each, and Melifonwu, Kindle Vildor, Josh Paschal and Isaiah Buggs have forced or recovered fumbles. And two other Lions (Aidan Hutchinson and Romeo Okwara, plus Branch again) have forced fumbles that haven’t resulted in turnovers.

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In the first three months of the season, the Lions had two games with multiple takeaways.

“It starts flowing, and that’s what’s starting to happen to us,” defensive tackle Alim McNeill said. “It’s kind of like, not like a football gods thing, but it’s kind of like when you’re doing stuff the right way sometimes stuff comes to you. When you’re just doing your job, stuff comes to you. It rewards you, and that’s kind of how that works with takeaways a little bit, in a way. But it’s huge. We’ve been getting a lot of them lately. We’re going to continue to do that and that’s the reason we’ve been winning ball games.”

In many ways, the Lions’ recent hot streak is reminiscent of the one that fueled their late-season success last year.

The Lions tied for 17th in the NFL with 22 takeaways in 2022, but their defense forced 16 turnovers in the final 10 games during an 8-2 finish.

They’ve also benefitted from personnel changes in their secondary — Melifonwu made his first start at safety Dec. 10, and Vildor took over the No. 2 cornerback spot a week later — and an improved pass rush. The Lions have multiple sacks in five straight games after recording multiple sacks just four times in their 8-3 start. Hutchinson, who had one sack in a seven-game stretch midway through the year, is coming off a three-sack performance against the Cowboys.

“It’s a mentality,” Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said. “And I told our guys the other day, man, it’s becoming the DNA of ours because it happened last year, probably about midseason. Now, we started a little late, all right. It happened about the last five games. But man, our guys really understand that. And it helps us as a team, as far as wins and losses, too. So when we win that turnover battle, usually we come out with a win, so we want to continue to do that.”

The Lions clinched the division against the Vikings in Week 16 in large part because they won the turnover battle.

Mullens completed 22 of 36 passes for 411 yards, but he threw two interceptions in the first half and two more in the fourth quarter with the game on the line. The Vikings benched Mullens for the start of last week’s game against the Green Bay Packers, but reinstated him as starter this week.

“I mean, if you looked at a lot of the plays from the first game obviously there were a lot of 50-50 balls he threw up and we got four of them and they got a couple of them,” linebacker Alex Anzalone said. “I mean, at this point in my mind you’re probably a little more conservative as far as (what he does) just cause he got benched from it, so yeah, that’s kind of my expectations.”

Whatever Mullens’ approach, Campbell said the Lions’ mindset can’t change. This week and in the playoffs, they need to continue their takeaway tear.

“My history says it (will),” Campbell said. “If not, it’s because we’re not playing at a certain level now that it’s starting to show up. So, it’s going to be important for us. It’s important. But yeah, this is when you want it to show, this time of year.”

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

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions' finally disruptive defense 'here to stay' for playoffs