Lions shutdown defense led by best safety duo in the NFL since Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor

The Lions are off to their best start (10-1) since 1934, are Super Bowl favorites and the best team in football. 

They are a complete team, too, dominating in all three phases. They are the only team that ranks top 10 in EPA per game on offense, defense and special teams. 

The part about their defense might surprise you because you’ve probably heard about their 50-point games, perfect performances from Jared Goff or ridiculous stretches with more touchdowns than incompletions.

However, the defense is also devouring the competition. They are allowing the second-fewest points per game (16.6) in the NFL this year and that figure is somehow lower (15.3) since Aidan Hutchinson broke his leg in Week 6.

They have the hottest defense in the league, too. Entering Thanksgiving they’ve …

Allowed under seven points in back-to-back gamesAllowed zero points in the second half in three straight gamesAllowed no touchdowns in 10 straight quarters.

All of those streaks are the longest in the NFL this season. Who would have thought, the Lions have a shutdown defense?!?!

But it’s true, and they have two stars patrolling the middle of the field to thank: safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch.

You may remember Joseph for picking off Aaron Rodgers twice in the regular-season finale in 2022 at Lambeau Field to keep Green Bay out of the playoffs. You might also know Branch for his pick six off Patrick Mahomes in his NFL debut last year (thanks to a Kadarius Toney drop), but both are so, so much more.

They are the NFL’s best safety duo since Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor, who headlined half of the “Legion of Boom” in the early-to-mid-2010s. 

Thomas and Chancellor are the only safety duo under age 25 to make a Pro Bowl in the same season in the Super Bowl era (since 1966). They did it in 2011, the year before Seattle went on a run of four straight seasons leading the NFL in scoring defense. 

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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/lions-shutdown-defense-led-by-best-safety-duo-in-the-nfl-since-earl-thomas-and-kam-chancellor/

Author : Douglas Clawson

Publish date : 2024-11-27 16:51:00

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