Kerby Joseph

Brian Branch was back, much needed.

And I just saw Kirby Joseph.

Did you see that? I thought he was done.

So... that's great news i feel like if detroit now can just like add a corner i would really love them to do another trade that's kind of the story of the nfc north right like as you look across the division with the bears and and maybe stuff will break before this podcast comes out but like it's like all your offenses are good enough can you add a little bit of talent on that other side of the ball and i i think with detroit like you similar to chicago we'll talk about later uh in the monday night game like there's Obvious improvement already happening.

I think it's like if we can just get league average from the Lions defense, that's still a massive improvement, though.

And I think with Brian Branch back, Kirby Joseph back, by the way, for the first time in over a year as well.

So they're going to have both their all pro safeties soon.

I don't know that Joseph plays in this game.

But DJ, something that maybe not enough people are talking about is the Lions are getting healthier defensively.

Brian Branch last week gets the pick and then Kirby Joseph is practicing.

So if the Lions defense is starting to get better and it may not matter that the Minnesota defense can limit this Lions offense, we may see a low scoring Detroit win here.

There's

Brian Branch was back, much needed.

And I just saw Kirby Joseph.

Did you see that? I thought he was done.

So... that's great news i feel like if detroit now can just like add a corner i would really love them to do another trade that's kind of the story of the nfc north right like as you look across the division with the bears and and maybe stuff will break before this podcast comes out but like it's like all your offenses are good enough can you add a little bit of talent on that other side of the ball and i i think with detroit like you similar to chicago we'll talk about later uh in the monday night game like there's Obvious improvement already happening.

You know what I mean? Yeah.

I was excited when that Kirby Joseph news came down, man.

But we had thought about it because he had been putting out those Dragon Ball Z tweets and stuff.

And I was like, oh, hold on now, Goku.

But like you said, he put out the Dragon Ball Z, the Goku kind of getting warmed up gif out there the other day and I was even trying to contain my excitement because I'm like, I know what that means.

Again, if you're an anime nerd, you know what the, if you see an anime character hopping from one foot to the other, like they're getting warmed up, It's a good precursor to amazing things about to happen.

But like you said, we did get that news today from Dan Campbell that they are officially opening the window for Kirby Joseph to start practicing.

Does not mean that he will be able to play.

They got Brian Branch back last week.

It looks like they're going to get Kirby Joseph back.

So...

I think the defense is not quite the sieve that they were in September.

We got the return of Brian Branch last week on a limited snap count.

Kirby Joseph returned to practice as well.

And Minnesota, for all their strengths on the defensive side, it's an offense that makes you want to gouge your eyes out when you watch them each and every Sunday.

If the Lions can generate quick pressures on Kyler Murray and kind of make Minnesota a little more one-dimensional, I think this Vikings defense is vulnerable on the back end.

I came across something that was a little bit surprising, but, you know, the deeper you dig into the numbers, the Detroit Lions defense is actually, like, not that bad, and they're also getting healthier.

So, I wrote about Detroit in my DST season preview, and one of the things that I highlighted was the fact that, like, yeah, dude, safeties Brian Branch and Kirby Joseph opened the year on IR.

Like, they were hurt.

Brian Branch popped his Achilles.

I don't remember exactly what...

Joseph but it was bad and you know but Branch came back this past week and already made an impact on this defense that has been allowing 313.8 passing yards per game through seven weeks yeah dude that's the most in the NFL but getting Branch back and getting Kirby Joseph back soon as head coach Dan Campbell has you know said to reporters they're expecting him back soon it's gonna be very cool And it's especially great news because once they start cutting down on those passing yards and stuff...

If you look at how effective their run defense has been this year, outside of that huge barrage that James Cook and the Buffalo Bills hung against them in Week 2, the Lions are actually only giving up 78.4 rushing yards per game, with a rushing success rate allowed of 33.3%, which, if we play the extrapolation game a little bit and kind of fudge the numbers, would be 30th league-wide if we just do a little bit of cherry-picking.

So, There is that.

I think the Vikings' defense is good.

I think there are murmurs that Kirby Joseph, the other safety for the Lions, could come back this week.

I have to double-check that.

But I think he's practicing this week, which is really big news.

for both teams.

They just couldn't get in, could not get it in the end zone.

But if Kirby Joseph comes back, Brian Branch, the Lions defense is underrated guys, underrated.

And so my biggest play on this, and I think I'm going to get there with it, is the under 46 and a half.