The Detroit Lions don't care about sacks very much, and that's ok, you shouldn't either

There is a very large concern on Lions Twitter that the Detroit Lions' pass rush is not strong enough. It doesn't matter that the Lions allowed the fifth fewest rushing yards in the league last year or the second fewest passing touchdowns. It doesn't even matter that the Lions' defense was second in defensive DVOA going into Week 12. 

All that seems to matter is that the Lions aren't getting enough sacks on the board. There's no doubt that the Lions would like to get sacks, but it's not the top thing they value, and that's been pretty evident in the past few years. 

"Sacks aren't that big of a deal as long as you're getting the pressures. As long as you're getting pressures and those pressures show up and affect the quarterback negatively. Now, would you rather have a sack, absolutely, I'd rather have sacks, loss yardage, and all those things, but the pressures are more to me. Pressure, that affects the quarterback.

We watched a couple of clips this morning in front of the team. Quarterback wants to step up, he can't step up and throw is high. You know, he's flipping to his right and he can't get his hips around and throws a pick. So these things that end up in negative plays, whether it's incomplete or it's turnovers or whatever, I'll take those all day long." 

In 2024, the Lions certainly applied the pressure that Campbell was talking about. They finished third in the league with 179 pressures. They weren't able to turn a lot of that into sacks, but what they did turn it into were the stats from above. Second in defensive DVOA and the second fewest passing touchdowns allowed in the NFL with 17. 

The Lions dealt with a lot of injuries in 2024, and that was the problem. I know nobody wants to accept that because it's hard tin win that argument when the person on the other side says "injuries are a part of the game." They're right, injuries are a part of the game, but what the Lions dealt with was anything but normal. Their injuries were like a team-wide epidemic. 

The Lions are getting guys back that cause that pressure with a healthy Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, Levi Onwuzurike, Josh Paschal, and more. They're also adding Ahmed Hassanein, who finished fourth in the nation in pressures last season with 62. 

Sacks are good, and the Lions would like to have them, and they will get them as a result of pressure, but it's that pressure that's changing the way the opposing offense is playing their game. That's what the Lions are doing.