On the surface, you’ll see the Detroit Lions allowed 31 points to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night. But look deeper, and you’ll see Green Bay had less than 300 yards of total offense (298). Two of their touchdown drives totaled 46 yards, after a Jared Goff interception and the one fourth down attempt the offense failed to convert in the game.

It’s not an underestimation to say injuries have ravaged Aaron Glenn’s unit. The list of defensive players on IR right now is unbelievably long (13), and that doesn’t count the three defensive lineman who missed Thursday night’s game (DJ Reader, Josh Paschal, Levi Onwuzurike).

Four defensive players who were signed since Thanksgiving (defensive lineman Jonah Williams, safety Jamal Adams, defensive lineman Myles Adams, linebacker Kwon Alexander) played on Thursday night, and another (edge rusher Mitchell Agude) was elevated from the practice squad for the first time all season.

Glenn used who he had available in ways he could. Defensive tackle Alim McNeill exiting in the first quarter to be evaluated for a concussion, and eventually missing the entire second half due to a head injury, further tested what depth the Lions had.

In a broad sense, the Lions’ offense possessing the ball for a shade over 36 minutes did the defense a huge favor.

Remarkable snap count stats show magic Aaron Glenn is working with Lions’ defense

A Lions’ defensive depth chart with a line through a ton of names is easy fodder for social media screenshots, but it’s also a reflection of the current reality. A look at Thursday night’s snap counts shows all the different names that were in place compared to Week 1.

Justin Rogers of Detroit Football Network puts specific numeric context to the Lions’ defensive snaps against the Packers.

The starting point is 550 possible defensive snaps (50 defensive snaps, 11 players on the field for each, #math), and the numbers Rogers broke down become even more incredible when we know four guys (Carlton Davis, Kerby Joseph, Jack Campbell, Terrion Arnold) played every snap on Thursday night.

During his weekly press conference going into Thursday night’s game, in light of having so many new players, Glenn said his defense is about the play style more than the playbook (“it’s not what we play, it’s how we play”). There will never be greater evidence of that than Thursday night, as Glenn continues to build his resume to be a head coach in 2025.