Alex Anzalone provides a great analogy to the defense of the 2022 Lions
The 2022 Detroit Lions were able to defend for two seasons. The Detroit Lions emerged from the ashes of a disastrous start. Lions emerged as one of the league’s best defenses Down the stretch. If not for the brutal outlier in Carolina in Week 16, Detroit’s defense was a top-5 unit in yards allowed and points allowed over the final six weeks. Despite the horrible day in Charlotte, the Lions remained a top-echelon defense for the final two months.
The overall season statistics don’t reflect that upward spike and late-season improvement, unfortunately. Alex Anzalone from linebacker, whose play was dramatically better down the stretch, helped fuel the surge. This is a great analogy for full-season rankings that remain near the bottom in most categories.
Anzalone shared a relatable concept regarding the Lions defense in 2022 during an appearance on Sirius XM NFL Radio.
“The way I put it is, you’re early in a semester and you fail the first two or three tests, it’s hard to bounce back from that statistically,” Anzalone told hosts Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller. “If you look at our numbers, I think from Week 9 or Week 10 on, we were really a dominant defense. That’s really a credit to (Lions DC Aaron Glenn) and what he stuck to and really what he changed also, personnel-wise — making hard decisions. Schematically, figuring out how to put our players in really great positions to succeed, myself included.”
Anyone who has taken a slow start in a college class (or both) will know how difficult it can be to raise the semester’s mark. It’s a well-conceived analogy by Anzalone, who also talked up Glenn’s candidacy as a head coach in the interview.