# Lions final grades: Defense substandard at multiple levels in 2025
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Defensive line: C+
On the surface, the numbers surrounding Detroit’s pass rush paint a compelling picture. The Lions ranked seventh in pressure rate (36.7%), according to Next Gen Stats, and had more sacks (49) than all teams in the NFL not named the Denver Broncos (68), Atlanta Falcons (57) or Cleveland Browns (53).
Add some context, however, and it’s much less encouraging. The Lions had an average time to pressure of 2.86 seconds, third-slowest in the league, and there was a general lack of consistency, as 32 of Detroit’s sacks came in six games, including five or more against the Baltimore Ravens (Week 3), Minnesota Vikings (Weeks 9 and 17) and Dallas Cowboys (Week 14). Much like the offense’s rushing attack, the defense’s pass rush was hot and cold. When it was on, it was on. When it was off, it was off.
And if we’re talking specifically about the defensive line, which we are in this section, sacks from Detroit’s linebackers and defensive backs must be considered. Fifteen of the team’s 49 sacks came players who were not categorized by Pro Football Focus as defensive linemen or edge rushers, a share of 30.6%. For context, the Broncos (19.9%), Falcons (17.5%) and Browns (18.9%) had much smaller rates. The defensive line’s perceived impact shouldn’t be buoyed by production from outside the unit.
Now, that isn’t to say there weren’t individuals who excelled. Defensive ends Aidan Hutchinson (14½ sacks) and Al-Quadin Muhammad (11) each had career seasons, forming Detroit’s first duo to each have 10 or more sacks since Doug English and William Gay in 1983. The issue is Hutchinson and Muhammad had next to no help. The Lions were one of six teams to not have three players with at least 30 pressures, according to PFF. They were one of two teams to not have a third defender with at least 25 pressures, along with the San Francisco 49ers. Alim McNeill, coming off a torn ACL and only making 10 appearances, was third on the Lions in pressures, with 23. Hutchinson had an NFL-best 100 and Muhammad added a career-high 53.
Linebackers: B+
Jack Campbell took a massive step in his third season, finishing 2025 with 176 tackles (second-most in the NFL, seven behind Miami’s Jordyn Brooks) 17 pressures, five sacks, four pass deflections, three forced fumbles and two fumbles recovered. Counting tackles can sometimes be deceiving — they don’t mean anything if they all come way down the field — but that wasn’t the case for Campbell, who led the league in run stops (44), which are tackles that result in a failed play for the offense. He earned himself All-Pro recognition from the Associated Press, becoming the first Lions linebacker since Chris Spielman in 1991 to be on the first team.
Campbell played 99.3% of Detroit’s defensive snaps in 2025, only coming off the field for eight plays when the Lions were up by 31 points over the Chicago Bears in Week 2. Alex Anzalone saw a similar rate (95.6%) before he missed Week 18’s finale at Soldier Field with a concussion, and Derrick Barnes (85.1%) wasn’t far behind.
Cornerbacks: D
There’s a conversation to be had about Detroit’s defensive approach. It’s a strategy that relies on man coverage and stacking the box, often leaving outside cornerbacks on an island. But that has more to do with coaching, and that’ll be addressed in Part 3. For the purposes of this section, we can only assess the cornerbacks as they performed on the field, flawed scheme or not.
Detroit’s defense showed promise early on, holding five of its first nine opponents below the 2025 season’s league average for points per game, which was 23. The defense went on to do that only two more times over the campaign’s final eight contests, and explosive plays were the biggest culprit for that regression.
Safeties: C+
What a difference one year can make. The Lions enjoyed the NFL’s best safety pairing in 2024, as Kerby Joseph’s nine interceptions perfectly complemented Brian Branch’s ability to play in the box — or really play anywhere, for that matter. When everything was falling apart (Detroit’s defensive front was hammered by injuries, from Hutchinson and Marcus Davenport to McNeill and Anzalone), it was Joseph and Branch giving the Lions life.
But Joseph and Branch were the ones getting hurt in 2025.
…The play from Detroit’s reserves (also including Daniel Thomas and Erick Hallett II) was respectable, but it wasn’t close to the All-Pro potential of Joseph and Branch. The Lions badly missed their elite duo in defending explosive plays, and there were multiple occasions in which a safety took a poor pursuit angle on a rushing play, allowing a moderate gain to pop for more than it should’ve. On Addison’s aforementioned 65-yarder, Jalen Mills, who had only been with the team for 15 days, looked to be out of position.