Dan Campbell’s Detroit Lions and Aaron Glenn’s New York Jets face off in Week 3 at Ford Field, both hungry to put their respective Week 2 losses in the rearview mirror.
Glenn has the Jets playing more competitively to start the 2026 season after a rough first season. It is not hard to see how Jets are following the same blueprint as the Lions from the 2021-22 rebuild years.
For that reason, Campbell knows this will be a physical matchup.
“Our players know exactly what’s coming in here because the defensive
coordinator was here for (four) years. Turn on the tape. … This is gonna be a knockout, 60-minute brawl.“
I agree.
Which leads to the first key matchup.
Dan Campbell vs. Aaron Glenn
After spending four seasons at the Lions defensive coordinator on Campbell’s staff, Glenn knows exactly how the Lions operate.
“I know how that program is run and I know that we have a challenge, we have a challenge just like every week.,” said Glenn when asked about the upcoming matchup. “But I can sit back and hear [Campbell] right now saying certain things, but it’ll be a good challenge for us, and we’ll be up for it, we’ll be ready.”
The matchup between the head coaches in how they will use the years of experience with each other will be at the top of the list of factors I will be watching for.
“There’s things that he knows we want to hang our hat on,” said Campbell. “I mean, that’s just gonna be there. And [there are] things that I know that he wants to hang his hat on. … But then there’ll be these other things. Because we know that, he knows that, there’ll be these wrinkles that get thrown in. It’ll be everything from a front to a pressure to a third down, you get a couple of these other looks that they haven’t put on tape yet.”
Glenn has the Jets focused on turning games into slogs, ranking in the bottom five overall playing at one of the league’s slowest paces on offense in the NFL at 33.9 seconds per play while in a neutral game script. Conversely, the Lions operate as one of the top ten fastest-paced teams at 31.7 seconds per play in a neutral script.
While the pace of play is a more conservative, defensive-minded approach incorporated by Glenn, I expect the Jets to take some calculated risks of aggression. Maybe some special teams aggression to try and steal a possession—something Glenn had a front row seat watching Campbell do in the early seasons of his tenure in Detroit.
Blake Miller vs. David Bailey
Rookie versus rookie. First-round pick versus first-round pick.
It is Lions offensive tackle Blake Miller returning from his uncharacteristic missed game against the highly explosive edge rusher David Bailey.
The rookie edge defender has gotten off to promising start with two sacks in his first two games, along with 11 QB pressures, per NFL NextGen Stats.
However, when diving deeper into those numbers, the story looks a little different. Only three of Bailey’s 11 pressures were quick pressures i.e. pressures created in under 2.5 seconds. His average time to pressure, in fact, is 3.56 seconds and average time to sack is 5.30 seconds.
With quarterback Jared Goff’s average time to throw at 2.80 seconds, Blake Miller is in a good position to be successful. Limit the quick pressures and it should be comfortable pocket for Goff to continue his impressive start.
Christian Izien vs. Keyon Sadiq
Injuries for both the Lions and the Jets bring on this key matchup. With Avonte Maddox out for the season, Christian Izien will be forced into a bigger role at safety.
“I’m excited to see Christian Izien go out there and fly around at the safety spot this week,” said defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard.
Similarly, the Jets starting tight end Mason Taylor hasnot practiced all week with a thumb injury. First-round pick Kenyon Sadiq takes center stage with an opportunity early in the season.
Sadiq is an explosive and versatile chess piece who could be a matchup nightmare as his career unfolds. While only second on the team in routes run among tight ends, Sadiq leads the group in targets (6), receptions (5), and yards (38). He also scored his first NFL touchdown as a rushing attempt, reaching over 20mph on the 3-yard carry.
It is a big week of Izien and the Lions defense. A strong performance would go a long way in reassuring that the past five quarters of Lions defense is not the version we’ll see the rest of the season.
Three key matchups. Three opportunities.
Dan Campbell has a chance to make it 3-0 against his former coordinators. Miller has a chance to build on his strong Week 1 performance. And the Izien has an excellent opportunity to right the ship of the defense.
It’s going to be a brawl.
