The Lions have one of the better safety pairing in the NFL in Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch. The two have been huge in stopping opposing passing defenses and giving the Lions a 4-1 start following their 47-9 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
How important are the two to the success for the Lions and their defense? Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn dove into that topic during his weekly media availability Thursday.
“Well this is something that actually started in New Orleans, my first year there, of understanding exactly the type of defense that we were trying to play, and that’s a multitude of different coverages in the backend, and that requires safeties that can communicate at a high level,” Glenn said. “That’s the first thing. The second thing is it requires safeties that can play man coverage and that’s across the board on our defense. And thirdly, safeties are highly instinctive that can understand where the ball is going to go make plays on the ball, and as you can see, our guys are doing a really good job of that. And that’s just how the system is built and that’s – I love safeties that can play that way. I think it allows you to allow your corners to play with leverage, they allow your safeties to have a little freedom within the defense to go make plays, and man we have one of the better ones in Brian Branch that’s highly instinctive, that can play down, that can play back, and then Kerby’s in the middle of the field and he can do a lot. And his range to be able to go find the ball is unbelievable. It kind of reminds me of when I had (former Saints S) Malcolm Jenkins and (Ravens S) Marcus Williams when I was in New Orleans. So, those guys are somewhat similar, but there are differences between those guys also.”
The Lions currently rank 6th in expected points added per play at -0.17. Only the Minnesota Vikings (-0.27), Denver Broncos (-0.23), Chicago Bears (-0.21), Tennessee Titans (-0.20) and Los Angeles Chargers (-0.18) rank better than the Lions through Thursday’s game between the Broncos and Saints (Broncos won 33-10).
Jenkins and Williams were an extremely strong duo during their time in New Orleans — Glenn was New Orleans’ defensive backs coach from 2016-2020 — so to be compared to those two is quite the praise for Joseph and Branch, who are among the top five on the team in tackles and have already combined for seven interceptions this season. Branch is allowing a quarterback rating of 48.0 per NFL Next Gen Stats while Joseph has been near-shutdown, with just a 2.8 QB rating allowed.
With Aidan Hutchinson lost for the season, Joseph and Branch will take on even more of a role as the heart and soul of Glenn’s defense, a role they will certainly relish in.