The Detroit Lions got a massive win in Week 10's trip to Munich, Germany. They also suffered a massive loss.
Aidan Hutchinson has been the glue holding a shaky passing defense together. His 48 pressures in the team's first eight games of the season are the best in the league and put him on pace for a new career high. Even with a limited supporting cast and a litany of double-teams, he'd been a constant in opposing pockets, creating the negative plays and rushed passes to provide cover for an undermanned secondary.
Now that secondary will have to figure out how to thrive without him. Hutchinson sacked Drake Maye early in Detroit's 35-10 victory over the New England Patriots. While Maye remained turf-bound with an ankle injury that knocked him out the rest
of the game, Hutchinson sprung up to celebrate, landed awkwardly and left the field as well.
Did Aidan Hutchinson just get hurt celebrating?
— NFL NEWS (@insidenflnews.bsky.social) 2026-11-15T14:47:43.634Z
It was a celebration that could have rippling effects across the rest of Detroit's road to Super Bowl 61. While the team hasn't yet released an official update on the All-Pro edge rusher, early reports aren't good.
Lions star Aidan Hutchinson is feared to have suffered a significant knee injury that knocks him out for the foreseeable future, per me and Mike Garafolo.More details coming. But Detroit is not expecting good news on the injury suffered celebrating an early sack.
— Ian Rapoport (@rapsheet.bsky.social) 2026-11-15T18:59:16.411Z
The Ringer's Tom Pelissero would report Hutchinson's season is likely over. That's a problem. Only five Lions have taken more than 90 pass rushing snaps this fall. Hutchinson's 15.6 percent pressure rate was by far the best on the roster. Only defensive tackle Alim McNeill was the only other piece of that cohort with a pressure rate over nine percent.
Now McNeill loses his force multiplier -- the defensive end who flushed quarterbacks toward the line of scrimmage where the defensive tackles created the pressure to clean up the mess. Hutchinson's 14 quick pressures were tops on his team and tied for 10th in the NFL. Even with that, Detroit's average 2.67 seconds to pressure rankedonly 14th in the league. That's slated to drop across the final two months of the regular season.
Who'll step into Aidan Hutchinson's starting role with the Lions?
The injury will shift focus to second round rookie Derrick Moore. Detroit traded up to keep the University of Michigan star in-state with the 44th overall pick. He earned a career-high 28 snaps in Week 9 against the Miami Dolphins and stood up with the first two sacks of his NFL career. He had two more in Munich, albeit both against Tommy DeVito and an injury depleted Patriots offensive line.
A third-down SACK for Derrick Moore!!
— Detroit Lions (Unofficial) (@notlions.bsky.social) 2026-11-15T15:11:17.257Z
Witha 12 percent pressure rate, he's a viable fill-in who has made strides in recent weeks. The spotlight will be firmly on him as he shoulders the load for a 7-2 team with major questions left to answer.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Aidan Hutchinson's post-sack knee injury could doom the Lions Super Bowl hopes
