With two straight wins, Khalil Mack and the Los Angeles Chargers defense have their confidence back.
Sunday's opponent though will provide a better indicator if they have turned the corner.
The Chargers host Jared Goff and Detroit on Sunday. The Lions (6-2) are coming off the bye and have the league's second-most productive offense.
“We have an expectation to go out and play dominant defense every week, regardless of who the opponent is,” said Mack, whose nine sacks are tied for fifth most in the league.
The Chargers held the Jets without a touchdown in Monday's 27-6 win and led throughout in a 30-13 victory over Chicago to get back to .500 at 4-4.
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Those victories though came with Zach Wilson and Tyson Bagent as the opposing quarterbacks. Goff and Detroit's offense should offer a bigger challenge.
The Lions come into the game as one of only two teams ranked in the top six in both rushing and passing.
Goff is fifth in the league, averaging 271.4 yards per game. He is tied for second with 35 completions of at least 20 yards and faces a Chargers defense that has allowed 35 passes of 20 or more yards, fifth most in the league.
Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown has three straight 100-yard games with 31 receptions for 334 yards and a touchdown.
Chargers coach Brandon Staley, who had to go against Goff daily in practices when we was the Rams defensive coordinator in 2020, has not been surprised with the way Goff has played with the Lions.
“The things that make him a special quarterback are the things that he’s doing right now. He’s really tough. He’s smart. He’s really accurate with the football," Staley said.
Goff is making his second trip back to SoFi Stadium since he was traded by the Rams in 2021. He threw for 268 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in a 28-19 loss to the Rams two years ago.
If Los Angeles is going to win its third straight, the pass rush is going to have to deliver again. The Chargers have four players with at least four sacks on the season and are coming off a game where they took down Wilson eight times.
Joey Bosa has 3 1/2 sacks in the past two games.
Detroit though has the fifth-best protection rate in the league after allowing 16 sacks on 312 drop-backs (5.1%).
“Good at every level, good front, good backers, good backend, really talented, fly around," Goff said of the Chargers defense. “Obviously, Mack and Bosa are the guys you’ve got to be really worried about and what they can do in both the pass game and the run game.”
SIMILAR STYLES
The game is a matchup between two of the more aggressive coaches in the league.
Detroit's Dan Campbell and Staley are both in their third years. Campbell leads the league in fourth down attempts and conversions (49 of 95) while Staley is third in successful fourth downs with 44.
"I would think both of us will just become very conservative this game. That’s what we’re going to do, so I haven’t talked to him about it yet, but we’ll see if he’ll just call off the dogs,” Campbell said jokingly.
1-2 PUNCH
Detroit may have both of its dynamic running backs available: David Montgomery and rookie Jahmyr Gibbs.
Montgomery missed the past two games with a rib injury.
Gibbs made the most of the opportunity, gaining 125-plus yards combined on the ground and through the air with a touchdown in each game after being out for two games with a hamstring injury.
Montgomery, who signed as a free agent after playing in Chicago, has averaged 90 yards from scrimmage in six games.
“It’ll be a little bit by committee and make sure we get those guys touches.” Campbell said.
BOUNCE BACK FOR HERBERT?
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert passed for a career-low 136 yards and was sacked five times against the Jets. Herbert is 12th with 2,026 passing yards and has only two 300-yard games this season.
The Chargers are ranked 15th in offense, way below expectations after Kellen Moore was hired as offensive coordinator during the offseason.
“I think we’re exactly where we are. We could have done a lot of things better, but there are a lot of good things that we did offensively this year," Herbert said. "We’re going to build on that, do everything we can to correct the errors and mistakes and keep moving forward.”
MIDWAY MARK
Detroit has its best eight-game record since 2014, putting the franchise in a position to potentially win a division championship for the first time in three decades.
“We’re 6-2 and feel good about it, but not even at the halfway point,” Campbell said. “We still have nine games left and have got to do a lot more better stuff if we want to be playing late into the playoffs.”
The Lions have not earned a spot in the playoffs since 2016 and have only one postseason victory since winning the 1957 NFL title, and that lone victory was Jan. 5, 1992.
RED ZONE WOES
The Lions rank 25th in the league on offense in the red zone, scoring touchdowns less than half the time, and are 27th on defense when teams drive to their 20 or closer to the end zone.
“There’s a lot of meat on the bone, both for offense and defense,” Goff said.
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AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in Detroit contributed.
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