The Detroit Lions’ pass rush is under heavy pressure to replace the impact left by Aidan Hutchinson. In losing the All-Pro caliber defender to a season-ending injury, the defense now has a massive void to fill in terms of rushing the passer.

Both starting defensive ends are out for the year, as Marcus Davenport suffered a torn triceps in Week 3.

In the immediate future, the Lions elected to replace him with a series of defenders rotating in as well as generating some pressure with different blitz packages. They also added defensive end Isaiah Thomas, who could potentially debut on Sunday after sitting out against Minnesota, off the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad.

Against the VIkings, the Lions generated 15 pressures as a team. Alim McNeill led the way with three, while four different players had two. In evaluating the game Monday, coach Dan Campbell admitted that the team stands to improve when it comes to the pass rush.

“An area where we could be better is, there was some things where our coverage had to — we ask them to do a lot and they had to hold on a little bit,” Campbell said. “There were some things where we fabricated some rush, we got there a few times. But to answer your question, we need just a little bit more. There was a couple of them that did get long, a couple of these plays that you’d like to believe we can get somebody there just a little bit sooner. We’ll keep working with it, A.G.’s gonna keep coming up with a great plan, he’s a stud as a defensive coordinator, he maximizes everything we have and we’ll figure it out. But I was proud of the way they battled.”

Campbell gave credit to Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn and Dave Fipp for their efforts to prepare their respective units ahead of Sunday’s game. Glenn in particular was praised, as he was able to adjust to life without Hutchinson and scheme up new ways to get after the quarterback.

“I thought the coordinators did an outstanding job, all three of them,” Campbell said. “Man, they were on top of their game. I thought Ben had a great game plan, man he was on it the whole game. I thought Fipp developed a great plan, those guys were humming. And lastly, I thought A.G., I thought everything that we went in and this game said we had to do and the way we had to play, it wasn’t perfect but my God those guys competed and it gave us a chance and they executed at a high level.”

‘Everything’s got to run through Detroit’

Sunday marked the first NFC North game Detroit has played this season, and as a result it allowed them to vault into first place. In knocking off the previously unbeaten Vikings, the Lions claimed the pole position as the season nears its halfway point.

While the competitiveness of the division points to things being far from settled, the win could wind up paying dividends for the Lions in their quest to set themselves up with a home playoff game.

“It meant a lot. I said this (Sunday), I didn’t want to call it a must-win, but our guys know how important it is. We’ve said it all the time, when you talk about the endgame, where you want to be at the end of the season, man, you’ve got to work backwards and what are the steps to get there?” Campbell said. “You’ve got to win the division. That’s where it starts. If that’s really what we’re saying, everything’s got to run through Detroit. And to do that you’ve got to win you division games, and then you get a home game in the playoffs, if not more. So it was big.”

Notes

Campbell was recently described as “classless” by former New Jersey Governor and Dallas Cowboys fan Chris Christie for the way he managed the Lions’ blowout Week 6 road win. The Lions’ coach responded to the comment on Monday, explaining that he wasn’t concerned with it.

“The last time someone called me classless, I was drinking wine out of a bottle,” Campbell said with a smile. “It’s all good, I’m not worried about it.”