The Detroit Lions are 2-1 through three weeks, and on paper, that’s a solid start. But three weeks into the 2026 season, the Lions’ pass rush is producing numbers that should have every fan’s attention. Detroit is 3rd in the NFL in quarterback pressures with 57, 2nd in sacks with 12, and 2nd in time to pressure at 2.46 seconds. That last number is the one that matters most.

Last season, the Lions had a time to pressure of 2.92, which ranked 32nd in the league. It was the stat that fueled every criticism about Detroit’s pass rush, even when the pressure and sack totals looked solid on paper. You have to understand how dramatic of a jump this is. Going from 32nd to 2nd in time to pressure is not something that just happens. That is an insane change, and it deserves real attention.

It’s happening in all four quarters

I know what the first reaction from a lot of Lions fans is going to be. It’s going to be something like, “Well, that’s probably all first-half stuff.” It’s not. The Lions are 1st in the league in third-quarter pressures, 2nd in fourth-quarter pressures, 1st in third-quarter sacks, and 7th in fourth-quarter sacks. They’re also 4th in time to pressure in the third quarter and 7th in the fourth quarter. This defensive line is getting home in the second half. That is not a mirage.

On third down, the numbers are even more striking. Detroit is 2nd in the league in third-down time to pressure at 2.31 seconds. They have 15 third-down pressures (11th in the league) and four third-down sacks, which ties them with six other teams just one sack behind the league leaders. This is everything Lions fans have wanted the defensive line to be.

So why doesn’t it feel like it?

The secondary. That’s the short answer. The Lions’ pass rush is doing its job, and the coverage behind it is not holding up. There have been backbreaking penalties, 50/50 balls that receivers are coming down with at an abnormal rate, and throws that just seem to find a window every time.

You can understand why it’s frustrating. You go back and look at that Kenyon Sadiq catch over Roger McCreary on Sunday. That’s as 50/50 as it gets. It’s an unbelievable grab. You run that play 10 times, and the receiver maybe catches it twice. Chris Olave had a bunch of those in Week 1. It feels like opposing quarterbacks and receivers are playing on rookie mode in Madden while the Lions’ defense is stuck on a harder difficulty. At some point, you’d like to see what this defense looks like on a normal day against a quarterback and a group of receivers who aren’t making every contested catch.

The offense has a role in this too

The defense deserves criticism for allowing teams to get back into games. But the offense has something to do with it too. Every time an opponent scores, the Lions seem to slip on a banana peel on their next drive. Against the Jets, Detroit scored three touchdowns in a row in the second half, then had its worst drive of the game when it turned the ball over on downs and let the Jets score again. The same pattern showed up against the Saints.

Drew Petzing’s offense is scoring 31 points per game. That’s good. Detroit has scored 30-plus points in each of its first three games, something the franchise has never done before. But the Lions need to start getting things going earlier and be more consistent throughout the game so they don’t put themselves in positions where comebacks can even happen.

What comes next

The Lions’ pass rush is real, and it’s elite right now. The secondary is the problem, and everyone knows it. We know Detroit has reached out to the Steelers about cornerback Joey Porter Jr. Let’s see if they make that deal happen and how much better they can make this secondary, because the defensive line is doing more than enough to hold up its end.

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