The Detroit Lions have been pulling off win after win, even with a crop of players out with injuries, which says a lot about their strength. Now, as the team heads into their matchup on Sunday, November 15, against the Buffalo Bills, they’re making some moves to elevate the squad, but there are still gaps.
In fact, there’s one area of the Lions’ squad that’s really hurting right now, but hopefully they’ll still be able to pull off a victory over the Bills.
Detroit Lions Extra Weak in One Position
Going into their matchup against the Bills, the Lions are hurting at the linebacker position. A handful of key players in that area are on injured reserve: Alex Anzalone, Derrick Barnes, Malcolm Rodriguez and Jalen Reeves-Maybin. Plus, as of this week, Trevor Nowaske is in concussion protocol and has been ruled out for Sunday’s game.
The Lions have done a solid job of filling gaps left by injured players, and they’re trying to do that again for the linebacker position. On Saturday, they elevated two players to help support the linebacker spot: Abraham Beauplan and Jamal Adams.
The Bills game will mark Adams’ second consecutive week as part of the Lions’ active roster. Adams, a veteran, signed to the practice squad two weeks ago to help fill the holes of injuries. For Beauplan, he’s been juggled between the practice squad and main roster all season. The Bills will mark his third appearance with the team, the other two being Week 9 and 10, but for those weeks, he was on special teams.
So, for the Lions’ game against the Bills, the linebacker position will be covered by Kwon Alexander, Jack Campbell, David Long Jr., Ezekiel Turner, Ben Niemann, Adams and Beauplan. They could sure use Anzalone, Rodriguez and the rest of the injured linebackers, but it is what it is.
Lions and Bills Game May Not Be as Exciting as Expected
While many are waiting in anticipation for Sunday’s game and think it could be a a high-scoring kind of event, the opposite may actually happen. Hamza Baccouche, special teams expert at Pride of Detroit, says the game may actually be a “low-scoring slugfest.” Well, that’s no fun.
Baccouche notes that both teams have good defenses, which could make for a low-scoring game. The Bills’ pass defense ranks 11th and run defense ranks 8th in the NFL in DVOA, while the Lions’ pass ranks first and run ranks 6th. It says a lot to see those Lions numbers considering how much of their defense is injured.
But, it’s not only strong defenses that could make for a nickel-and-dime kind of game. Baccouche says he also thinks the Bills will have a “hangover effect.”
“After watching the Bills put up 42 points a week ago, it’s easy to think they’re going to do the same to the Lions,” Baccouche stated in the December 14 feature. “But often times it’s the opposite effect.”
He added that Buffalo pulled out all the stops in a “thrilling game” last weekend and “came up short” and that it’s difficult “to turn around and replicate that effort.” However, the Lions “are coming off of a close win with three extra days of rest and several players returning to full health.”
Not surprisingly, the voices over at the Bills’ site are going with a tight win by the Bills, but that remains to be seen. Chris Jenkins, senior director of content, has the Bills winning 28-24.
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