The Detroit Lions' 4-1 start is more impressive when you consider the injuries they’ve fought through to get there. Starting corners D.J. Reed and Terrion Arnold have left the defense shorthanded while the offense is working through Taylor Decker’s shoulder injury ahead of a Week 6 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Although the first five games haven’t been perfect, the Lions have shown flashes of their upside, and things could get better when several players return. That includes defensive tackle Alim McNeill, who has been out since tearing his ACL last December.
McNeill has been working his way back, and the Lions recently opened his 21-day practice window as the first step toward returning to game action. While Lions head coach Dan Campbell didn’t state either way whether McNeill would play against Kansas City, he did lay some encouraging hints that could have the star lineman return sooner than expected, joking that McNeill had “a 51-49 (percent) chance to return” via Nolan Bianchi of The Detroit News.
“Mac’s getting better and better,” Campbell said during his weekly press conference. “He looks good. Our O-Line hates him right now. But he’s getting better. That’s what I’ll tell ya right now.”
Lions D-Line Could Get a Major Boost if Alim McNeill Returns vs. Chiefs
Campbell’s comments are rooted in humor as he said McNeill had “a 50-50 chance” to play before being ruled out for last week’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. But his return isn’t a laughing matter as the Lions could use him in the middle of their defensive line.
McNeill was on his way to a tremendous season, grading 10th among qualifying tackles with a 79.6 overall grade before his injury, according to Pro Football Focus. He was a strong pass-rusher on the interior with 45 total pressures and 3.5 sacks on 439 snaps, and his loss has been felt not only in the derailment of the Lions’ short-lived playoff run but at the start of this season.
No Lions defensive tackle has double-digit pressures through the first five games, and the Lions’ leader, D.J. Reader, currently has eight. Tyleik Williams leads the team with a 64.6 pass-rush grade according to PFF, but he’s been a liability against the run with a 44.2 grade. Detroit’s run defense as a whole has struggled, allowing the seventh-most rushing yards per game (134.8) after Week 6 kicked off on Thursday night.
While the run defense is an issue, the Lions probably would like McNeill back to get more pressure on quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs’ offensive line was fifth in PFF’s offensive line rankings ahead of Week 6, but it has an obvious weak spot as Kingsley Suamataia owns a 59.8 overall grade and allowed 11 pressures and a sack on 214 pass-blocking snaps this season.
A weak link in the middle could be exposed by McNeill’s return. But it’s unknown how much the Lions want to push the issue and get McNeill back. Maybe the one-percent difference in Campbell’s mind indicates he has a better chance to play this week than he did a week ago, but Lions fans won’t know the real answer until he sees the field.