Lions secret superstar for Week 2 against the Packers
The Detroit Lions are currently preparing for a Week 2 game with the Green Bay Packers, and while there are obvious matchups that favor one team over the other, there is one Lions player who’s talent will set them up for success.
Let’s take a closer look at this week’s potential secret superstar.
The Packers and Aaron Rodgers had a field day against the Vikings in Week 1 — 32 completions for 364 passing yards, four touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a QB rating of 127.5 — and this game could turn into a shootout quickly.
Although, as Jeff Risdon pointed out, the Lions do enter this matchup with some statistical advantages. If it’s a shootout, then it’s important to take note of the Packers yards per play allowed — a league-worst 7.8 yards allowed, with an asterisk for Vikings’ stat-padding in the fourth quarter — and completion percentage allowed. “Green Bay let Kirk Cousins go crazy,” Risdon said. “He completed 76 percent of his 25 pass attempts. The Packers defense got its hands on just one throw.”
If Rodgers stays true to form, and the Packers pass defense continues to struggle, the Lions will need to be prepared to counter with their own aggressive punch on offense and that means letting Matthew Stafford cut it loose.
If Kenny Golladay is unable to play — it looks like he won’t, based on practice reports — that would likely put Packers Jaire Alexander on Marvin Jones and Kevin King on Quintez Cephus, both potentially close battles. In the slot, the Lions should have a significant advantage with both Danny Amendola and T.J. Hockenson.
But if the Lions are going to have time to throw to their receivers, Stafford is going to need time in the pocket. Last week the Lions offensive line allowed 14 pressures, while the Packers created 11. If the Lions want those numbers to shift in their favor, it would be in their best interest to scheme ways of keeping the Packers pass rushers honest.
Enter D’Andre Swift.
Swift was on the field for 44-percent of the Lions snaps in Week 1, the most of any Lions running back. He showed he is an NFL ready pass protector — earning an 80.4 pass protection grade from PFF in Week 1 — and is capable of contributing on draws and screen plays, both of which can carve up aggressive defenses for big gains.
Despite the heartbreaking drop in the endzone to end the game, the Lions, and specifically Stafford still trust him to produce in similar situations moving forward.
“I’m throwing it to him a hundred times out of a hundred,” Stafford said of Swift. “Trust that kid. He’ll make a play.”
You want a redemption story, well here’s Swift’s chance.
Swift has the skill set to be a real problem for Green Bay and the Lions will need him to produce if they are going to maximize their offense. If he is the catalyst in an underdog victory for the Lions over the Packers, it would quickly wash away all the bad feelings from Week 1.
