Photo Credit: Nic Antaya/Getty Images.

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Coming into this Monday Night game, it was the match-up of high powered offenses. MVP candidate’s Baker Mayfield and Jared Goff going head to head against two not so good pass defenses. The Buccaneers haven’t been good against the pass all year, and the Lions came into the game down both their starting corners and safeties. Everyone thought this would be a shootout, similar to Tampa’s recent game against Seattle that ended 38-35.

We couldn’t have been more wrong.

The Bucs’ defense is great against the run, ranking 5th in yards allowed, but allowed 164 yards last night, the most they’ve allowed all season. Jahmyr Gibbs exploded for 136 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while also having 82 receiving yards. But that’s not why we are here, lets talk about the Lions’ defensive backs.

Erick Hallett, Nick Whiteside, Arthur Maulet, Thomas Harper, Amik Robertson, and Rock Ya-Sin all really stepped up and made it hard for Tampa to do much through the air. This season, the Lions defense allows 232.8 passing yards per game, but against the 9th ranked Bucs offense, they allowed just 210 passing yards, one touchdown, and hauled in an interception. This is in large part due to the play of the defensive line, but the defensive backs did their job. Let’s talk about each player, and how they played last night.

Arthur Maulet, CB: Maulet, 32, was added to the practice squad a few weeks ago, and has played pretty well so far. He intercepted Mayfield after ripping the ball from tight end Cade Otton’s hands, and also had 5 tackles to boot. He formerly played with the Ravens, and it seems he has that feisty play style we like here in Detroit. He played just 33 snaps, which was 50% of all snaps on the night, allowing a QBR of 39.1 on 8 targets, while allowing 6 catches for 27 yards.

Erick Hallett, S: Hallett, 25, was signed to the practice squad last summer, and has stuck around since. We can see why, as he racked up 8 total tackles vs the Bucs, and he seemed to be everywhere on the field last night. He played 62 snaps, or 93.9% of snaps, while allowing 4 catches for 52 yards on 6 targets. He had one of those games where if he didn’t make the tackle, he seemed to always be nearby. He played in his second ever career game, and his first ever start, and played really well. He also looked pretty good in the preseason, which is probably why the Lions have kept him around this long. I expect him to get more looks after the way he played vs Tampa.

Nick Whiteside, CB: The hero of the night, Whiteside had 2 tackles and 3 PBU’s, 2 of them being in clutch moments at the end of the game. He was the Lions’ highest graded defender per PFF with an 86.8, and he’s another guy who seemed to be everywhere. At just 25, and spending his past season in the UFL, the Lions may have found themselves a diamond in the rough. He played 57.6% of snaps, while allowing a QBR of 81.9 on 6 targets. He allowed just one catch, though, for 22 yards. He was one of the guys we hear a lot about over the off-season, as he was looking really good in training camp. When I was there in person, he certainly stuck out to me.

Amik Robertson, CB: Robertson is a guy Lions fans know and love, and aren’t really that surprised to see him play well. Especially after last season’s game vs Minnesota, where he essentially locked up All-Pro receiver Justin Jefferson. Last night, he played pretty well again, with 3 tackles, and a big forced fumble when he punched the ball out of the receiver’s hands. He played every defensive snap, allowing 7 catches on 11 targets and 53 yards, with a QBR of 75.2. Robertson has been a bright spot all year for the Lions’ secondary, and will continue to be. He is really the only guy left who the Lions have relied on somewhat regularly, and when Arnold and Reed come back, I expect him to still see the field quite a bit.

Rock Ya-Sin, CB: Ya-Sin was signed this past off-season from Indianapolis, where he spent all of his career to this point. He has been solid so far, but not amazing. He has had a somewhat up and down season so far, but had 4 total tackles against Tampa Bay. He allowed a QBR of 45.8 on 4 targets, with one reception allowed. He also played 42.4% of total snaps. He unfortunately went down with an injury during the game. He is known for being a feisty, physical corner who’s not afraid to come down in the run game. He was a big difference maker in training camp and in preseason, so hopefully as time goes he will get more consistent.

Thomas Harper, S: Harper, 24, was a very bright spot for the Lions last night, as he totaled 3 tackles, but that’s not where he was his best. He was a solid cover guy all night, good enough to earn himself a 79.0 PFF grade, which would be 8th among all safeties this season. He did that while playing 100% of all defensive snaps. He also allowed a QB rating of 39.6 on just 2 targets, with 0 receptions given up. He was undrafted in 2024, but was picked up by the Chargers. He spent some time with the Raiders as well, before signing with Detroit. He ran a 4.42 and jumped 42″ at his pro day, showing he has very good athleticism. He only started one season at Notre Dame before entering the draft. The Lions might have found themselves some good depth at safety.

Overall it was a good team win from Detroit, but the defense carried us. Nobody thought the defensive backs would play as well as they did, including me. But, thankfully they surprised us all and played very well against a very good Buccaneers offense. Hopefully they can keep it up, as we go into our bye week, we should be getting some reinforcements for our next game. Branch, Joseph, and possibly Arnold should be back for the week 9 matchup against division rival Minnesota.

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