With the injuries piling up on the defensive side of the ball, Lions’ defensive tackles DJ Reader and Alim McNeill are stepping up their games at just the right time.
While injuries have continued to ravage the Detroit Lions defense over the course of the first 12 games of the 2024 season, the unit continues to play at a high level and has been a key contributor during the Lions’ 10-game winning streak.
Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn is (finally) getting the recognition he deserves, and other players on the defense have stepped up their games in order to, “Hold the line,”—shoutout Lions coach Dan Campbell. Over the last few weeks, defensive tackles Alim McNeill and DJ Reader have really begun to take their games to new levels.
From statistical production, to the amount of snaps they are on the field (McNeill logged 63(!) snaps against the Colts), the duo have been difference-makers along the defensive front for a team that that has legit championship aspirations.
In this film study we are taking a look at how McNeill and Reader impacted the game during the Lions’ wins over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 12, as well as their most recent victory over the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving Day.
Immovable objects against the run
Our first clip is something that pops up on film time and time again when you watch the Lions’ all-22 film angles. Watch as the Colts elect to double both McNeill and Reader, leaving an alley for linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez to shoot through the gap, and make the tackle for loss along with defensive lineman Josh Paschal.
Snaps like these won’t appear on the box score for the defensive tackles, but their ability to eat up space and occupy blockers are big reasons why linebackers like Rodriguez, Alex Anzalone, and Jack Campbell have all looked so good this year. It is easier to play the position when you are kept clean as an off-ball linebacker, so playing behind a defensive tackle tandem like McNeill and Reader has to be a dream.
Next up we have another instance of the duo being absolute menaces against the run, this time against the Bears. It looks like Chicago is attempting to run some sort of stretch concept to the right from under center, while the Lions have a five-man front defensively, with Reader at the nose tackle, and McNeill at the three-technique.
I get Chicago’s thought process here. Try and get players like McNeill and Reader to move laterally down the line of scrimmage in order to hopefully manufacture some cutback lanes for running back D’Andre Swift. Unfortunately for the Bears, the Lions’ defensive tackles are some of the more athletic big men in the entire league, and they make short work of this run.
“He’s way more athletic than what people give him credit for,” Glenn said this week of Reader.
McNeill is able to beat Bears tackle Braxton Jones across his face and makes first contact in the backfield, while Reader scrapes down the line of scrimmage and rallies to the football. Swift would finish with 39 yards on 11 carries for the day in what was another dominant showing for the Lions’ run defense.
Interior pass rush
Ignore the terrible drop in the red zone by the Colts for a second, and watch McNeill work against All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson. Even while watching the game live, I constantly find myself thinking, “Man, another really impressive rush from McNeill there,” and this was certainly one of those occasions.
McNeill’s initial punch appears to send a jolt through Nelson right from the jump, forcing the guard to attempt to reset his hands as he is being pushed back. From there, McNeill has already won the leverage battle and is able to push Nelson all the way back into quarterback Anthony Richardson’s lap as he is letting this ball go.
You’ve likely heard it before, but interior pressure is typically a quarterback’s least favorite pressure to deal with. If a pass-rush unit is sound across the board in their rush-lanes, and a team is able to consistently collapse the pocket from the inside, it makes life very difficult for the opposing passer.
Did I mention McNeill’s power has looked off the charts lately? In the next clip below, he is working on the other side of the line, and right guard Dalton Tucker was his next victim.
It’s hard to tell whether or not Tucker was slightly tripped by Colts running back Jonathan Taylor or if McNeill’s bull rush was the lone culprit in putting the guard flat on his back. Either way, McNeill gets to Richardson and forces a hurried throw that lands incomplete.
Richardson looked off for most of the day against the Lions, and I would guess that all of the interior pressure he was dealing with played a major role in making him uncomfortable.
Sticking with the power theme here, we have one more example of Reader absolutely manhandling left guard Teven Jenkins on his way to one of his two sacks against Chicago.
Initially, it isn’t a bad rep from Jenkins—maybe the best you can do when you are blocking a player of Reader’s caliber one-on-one. Eventually, Reader is able to displace Jenkins backwards, extend his left arm, and rip through with his right—opening Jenkins’ right shoulder to the sideline. From there, it’s all but over for the guard.
As banged up as they are—particularly along the defensive line after losing both Levi Onwuzurike and Josh Paschal during the course of the Thanksgiving game—the defense consistently did a fantastic job of generating pressure with just four rushers against the Bears.
Yes, the defense is going to be somewhat shorthanded for the next several weeks. Hopefully they are able to get some reinforcements back in time for the playoff, but for now, the players who are healthy are going to continue to be counted on to hold the line. And so much of that begins up front with the dominant play of Alim McNeill and DJ Reader.
