The Detroit Lions defensive line has been playing really well this season. Especially against the run. The Lions have allowed the fewest rushing yards in the league through the first six games of the year with just 388 yards. That's very good. Where the Lions are struggling a bit is when it comes to the getting to the quarterback. 

They can get hurries. That's not been a problem for the Lions all year. They have 104 total pressures through six weeks. The issue is that they're 14th in the NFL in sacks and when they play a good offensive line, their pass rush seems to disappear. Sunday's game was a good example of that. That's not the end of the world. A good offensive line will do that to the best of defensive line. This is still something the Lions need to fix. 

The Lions had 14 total hurries against the Bucs. Aidan Hutchinson and Alim McNeil had nearly that amount with just the two of them against the Panthers. They Lions had 24 total against Carolina. The Panthers have the 31st ranked offensive line in the league per Pro Football Focus. The Chiefs are 7th and the Bucs 10th. The Lions had their most trouble against both of those teams. 

The Lions are wining games. So it might not seem like a big deal right now. Maybe it's not. Where it will become a big deal is down the stretch where the Lions have big aspirations. How big of a deal? Let's take a look at the pass rush ranking of the last 10 Super Bowl champions courtesy of PFF:

• 2022 Chiefs: 9th
• 2021 Rams: 1st
• 2020 Bucs: 8th
• 2019 Chiefs: 30th
• 2018 Patriots: 19th
• 2017 Eagles: 1st
• 2016 Patriots: 20th
• 2015 Broncos: 2nd
• 2014: Patriots: 25th
• 2013 Seahawks: 1st

There you go. Big things can happen without a pass rush. It can happen. If you're the Patriots of that era. Otherwise you got to hit some people. 

The good news is that the Lions aren't too far out of the way and they have assets to make themselves buyers in the pass rush market in the next two weeks. 

There's guys out there that are slated to be available. I named two of them on Monday morning right here. 

5 players who could be Detroit Lions very soon

Week 6 is over for the Detroit Lions and now it's time to really get into the meat and potatoes of the NFL trade deadline. Last year the deadline fell on November 1st. While there were 10 trades that day, there were six trades the week before that.  Outside of the T.J. Hockenson trade on […]

It doesn't have to be those two guys. There's other options out there like Brian Burns for example. That's near the top of the spending for this piece, but you can't make an omelet without trading a few draft picks. 

I know there's some fans out there that think the Lions are just set and ready to go. I get that. They're 5-1 right now and things are going great. But this is where you need to step up from great to unstoppable. This is the Rasheed Wallace moment. You can be a good team, or you can trade for the guy that helps you win it all.  

You have to understand that just because you're good, that doesn't mean you can't get better. The Lions can certainly get better. If they make the right move and pair Aidan Hutchinson up with a baller on the other side, we're talking the very real possibility of doing a lot more than just winning the division and a playoff game. 

Let's see what happens in the next two weeks. 

Craig Reynolds has been a revelation for the Lions in 2023

Sometimes you're just so incredibly happy to be wrong about a player. I spent most of the summer trying to jam someone into the Detroit Lions running back three spot becasue I just didn't believe in Craig Reynolds anymore. I went with Mohamed Ibrahim, Zonovan Knight and Jermar Jefferson. I was wrong and it was […]