When it came to the Detroit Lions run defense last Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks were met with little resistance. Seahawks running back Rashaad Penny set a career high with 170 rushing yards on just 25 carries. As a team, the Seahawks rushed for 265 yards on the ground, 72 more yards than they had in any other game this season.
Detroit’s failures on that side of the ball have many wondering if the Lions’ draft picks aren’t playing up to expectation. Rookie defensive tackles Alim McNeill and Levi Onwuzurike—along with linebacker Derrick Barnes—are all critical to Detroit’s run defense, and each of them played over 50 percent of the defensive snaps on Sunday.