Jordan Love’s ascent, the Eagles’ sorrow, Lions’ fatal flaw and the best, worst of Week 18

Detroit got a win over the Minnesota Vikings Sunday. That was nice. It wasn’t especially meaningful — the Lions were already locked into a playoff spot and the Vikings were effectively out — but it gave the team’s starters another chance to sharpen themselves against tough competition before the postseason.

It also provided an opportunity for star rookie tight end Sam LaPorta to get injured and for opponents to see the glaring weak spot in Detroit’s game; a cheesecloth secondary that got lit up by Nick Mullens.

Mullens wasn’t great, but he finished his day with 396 passing yards and two touchdowns (along with two interceptions) on 44 attempts. Frankly, if Jordan Addison doesn’t misjudge this first half deep ball, the damage would have been even worse.

The Lions’ secondary is a problem, especially deep downfield. Mullens completed five of his nine passes that traveled at least 20 yards downfield, throwing for 167 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and a 100.5 passer rating. He did all this, famously, despite being very much Nick Mullens.

The Lions’ cornerbacks could not survive being left on an island against good wideouts. Their safety help bit on play fakes and decoy crossers, leaving entirely too much space deep downfield.

Minnesota was able to exploit this, in part, because it has two great wideouts in Addison and Justin Jefferson. But the rest of the playoff field will feature guys like Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, Mike Evans, AJ Brown (maybe), DeVonta Smith (maybe), CeeDee Lamb, Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp and more.

This is a problem! Detroit’s run defense has consistently been better than its pass defense, and while this wasn’t fatal in Week 18 it absolutely could be going foward.