Allen Park — Sunday’s performance in New Orleans was an exclamation point, but Detroit’s defense has been slowly turning around its season for more than a month. With the 28-13 victory, the Lions haven’t allowed an opponent to score more than 20 the past six games.
The success of the defense is a shared accomplishment, between the 11 players on the field and the play-calling of coordinator Teryl Austin. But it has not been a coincidence this stretch has coincided with the increased usage of a personnel grouping Detroit has successfully deployed.
It’s commonly known as big nickel.