Stop calling the Detroit Lions defense depleted, it's not

Depleted? Like I said, there's some injury issues. But the brakes need to be pumped on this whole depleted thing. The Lions injury issues aren't as bad as they seem and they haven't affected this team all year long. 

For starters, take a look at this list of guys that are current starters and have been current starters all year. 

• Alim McNeill
• DJ Reader
• Brian Branch
• Kerby Joseph
• Jack Campbell
• Terrion Arnold
• Carlton Davis
• Amik Robertson
• Za'Darius Smith

That's nine of the 11 guys that are usually out there starting for the Lions defense that are still able to start. Why are we suddenly acting as if those guys aren't available for the rest of the year? Carlton Davis did miss the last game, but he's back at practice. Reader could potentially miss Thursday, but he should be back after that. 

The injuries are hard and the Lions do have to overcome them, but why are we acting as if this team hasn't been overcoming injuries all year? Losing Hutchinson was super hard, but it happened in Week 6. This team hasn't lost in that time. They lost Anzalone two weeks ago and they haven't lost. 

The reason they're staying alive and still playing well is because they're not depleted. The other thing is that a lot of the guys that are currently injured are expected to be back this season. 

• Alex Anzalone
• Josh Paschal 
• Levi Onwuzurkie
• Jalen Reeves-Maybin
• Ennis Rakestraw

All those guys are expected to be back either before or right at the playoffs. That's not including the guys that might sneak back in later like Aidan Hutchinson, Derrick Barnes, John Cominsky and Ifeatu Melifonwu. (Iffy is here because his status is up in the air right now.)

Now, the Lions might lose some games in the last five weeks, but this by no means points to the end of their ability to win a Super Bowl. This is still a very good team that's more healthy than you think and will get more healthy as time goes on. It's not at all depleted.