Fresh off a week where they scored 51 points against the Chicago Bears, the Detroit Lions appear to be walking into another scenario where Jared Goff has a real opportunity to light up the scoreboard.
After Sam LaPorta stressed the importance of getting off to a fast start against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night, John Harbaugh and company helped make sure that was a likely possibility for Goff and the Lions on Saturday by ruling out one key pass rusher while another missed practice due to injury.
Ravens Defense Likely to Be Without Top Two Pass Rushers Against Lions
According to Harbaugh, DT Nnamdi Madubuike will miss Monday night's game as he is still dealing with symptoms caused by a neck injury. While Madubuike is officially not playing in Week 3, OLB Kyle Van Noy could be joining him on the sidelines as he missed practice on Saturday with a hamstring injury he suffered during Week 2.
This past season, Van Noy and Madubuike combined for 19 QB sacks. They are, without question, Baltimore's two most accomplished pass rushers, and Detroit could potentially avoid having to face both of them. Given the issues the Lions have had along the offensive line thus far, catching this break should provide Goff with more time in the pocket to pick apart the Ravens' secondary.
Through two games, Baltimore is allowing the opposition to throw for just under 300 yards per game. Opposing quarterbacks have also thrown four touchdown passes to just one interception. While Josh Allen accounted for nearly 2/3 of those passing yards, Goff is an extremely polished passer in his own right and proved last week that he and this offense are still more than capable of lighting up the scoreboard.
With Detroit's defensive coaches already admitting they have lost sleep this week over trying to game plan for Lamar Jackson and this Baltimore offense, knowing that Goff stands to have another breakout performance should help those coaches rest a little easier on Saturday night.