The Detroit Lions look to keep things rolling this afternoon as they host the Jacksonville Jaguars at Ford Field. The players and coaches have been looking forward to getting back home in front of this crowd after back-to-back road games in Green Bay and Houston.
Detroit is looking to make it eight straight wins to stay atop the NFC North and remain the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Here are five things to watch out for in this one:
1. Turn Za’Darius Smith loose
The veteran edge rusher the Lions traded for at the Nov. 5 deadline is expected to make his Lions debut Sunday after head coach Dan Campbell gave him last week off to rest up his body and honor his scheduled bye week. Smith (6-4, 270) has 5.0 sacks in nine games this season and should add some much-needed juice to Detroit’s pass rush.
“Looking forward to getting him out there, have a number of things that we want to do with him, but just going through the walkthrough with him (Wednesday), you can tell how excited he is to be a part of this organization,” defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said this week.
“And listen, we’re throwing some things at him and he’s not going to pick everything up right away, but there are some situations that we want to make sure that he’s on the field to utilize his ability to rush the passer and his ability to play the run.”
Smith is a versatile defender who can play on the edge, slide inside and also sets a terrific edge in the rush game. He’s expected to make an immediate impact for Detroit’s defense.
