Lamar Jackson presents ultimate test for Lions defense

The Detroit Lions’ defense was decimated by injuries last year, reducing what had the talent to be an elite unit to a shell of itself by the end of the season, culminating in a 45-31 upset loss to the Washington Commanders in their first playoff game.

Now that the unit has gotten mostly healthy over the offseason, one of Detroit’s major storylines to begin the 2025 season was how good their defense could be with a clean bill of health and a rookie defensive coordinator in Kelvin Sheppard.

The group got off to a rough start with a 27-13 loss to Green Bay in Week 1, before looking a lot better in a 52-21 blowout win over Chicago. But this week? We’re really about to learn a lot about them.

Jackson will put Lions defense to first real test in 2025

That’s because they have the task of defending Lamar Jackson, one of the league’s top quarterbacks and most transcendent talents football has ever seen. Jackson put up 4,172 passing yards, 41 passing touchdowns and just four interceptions last year to go along with 915 rushing yards and four touchdowns, in arguably the greatest season a quarterback has ever had without winning MVP.

And through two games this year, Jackson is off to another blazing start. He’s thrown for 434 yards and six touchdowns with zero picks, and has rushed for 83 yards and a score. 

Jackson’s combination of arm talent, pinpoint accuracy and a rushing ability that rivals most Pro Bowl running backs is truly something the NFL has never seen before. He’s 24-2 as a starter against NFC teams, including 2-0 against Dan Campbell’s Lions.

“I don’t know if his passing ability gets the attention it deserves," Lions quarterback Jared Goff said to reporters this week. "He’s as good of a passer as there is in this league… Specifically the last three or four years, he’s been pretty on fire. And yeah, our defense has their hands full with him, but I expect them to play well.”

Keeping Jackson in check will definitely be a tall order for Detroit, especially when they also have all-world running back Derrick Henry to worry about. The Lions won’t be able to shut those two down completely, but they should be confident in their ability to pressure Jackson.

The Ravens’ offensive line has struggled to start the 2025 season, particularly on the left side. Left tackle Ronnie Stanley has allowed five pressures and two sacks to start the season, and Left guard Andrew Vorhees has allowed three pressures. Baltimore’s 49.6 team pass blocking grade from Pro Football Focus is the sixth-worst in the NFL.

And Detroit has fared well against mobile quarterbacks so far this year. They held Jordan Love to three rushes for four yards and Caleb Williams to five rushes for 27. Admittedly, though, both quarterbacks found some success extending plays and throwing from outside the pocket, which is what Detroit is most likely more worried about anyway. 

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Jackson is a different type of athlete from either of those two, and Lions head coach Dan Campbell talked about the keys to defending him this week.

"We’re going to have to be on point again. But I go back to this, too. You can’t paralyze your guys, either,” Campbell said. “You can’t pull back so far on them that they lose what makes them great players. Or like a guy like (Aidan Hutchinson), you’ve just got to be careful. So, yes we have to be disciplined. Somebody’s going to have to cover for you if you’ve got a two-way go. And then, don’t leave your feet. Don’t leave your feet. You just keep moving with a base until you get reinforcements, and let’s just close it in on them. That’ll certainly be a point of emphasis.”

Baltimore has still been one of the league’s best rushing offenses to start the year even with its pass protection issues, and even when Jackson faces pressure, he’s been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. 

Last year, he had the most total estimated points added this season while under pressure with 11.6 EPA. The second-best quarterback in that metric was Josh Allen, who had -17.34 EPA. 

So, there’s no foolproof way to stop Jackson. Who knew it would be so hard to game plan for a two-time MVP? But getting early pressure, turning a few of those into sacks and forcing Baltimore into pure dropback passing situations may be Detroit’s best shot.

That would require a big time game out of star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson, and a continuation of Al-Quadin Muhammad’s strong start with Marcus Davenport likely out with an injury. It would also mean a lights-out showing from Alex Anzalone, Derrick Barnes and Jack Campbell fitting the run. The Lions defense has looked up and down to start the year, but needs to have a big-time showing on primetime this week. Hutchinson sounds ready for the challenge.

“Lamar (Jackson) is one of those guys that would be fun to sack,” Hutchinson said on Thursday. “We’re going to execute the game plan and get after it, but again, that would be a fun one for sure.”