Reuters

Last year the Lions’ defense tied for tenth in the league with 41 sacks. This year that won’t be good enough.

Lions defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch told MLive.com that he thinks anything less than leading the league in sacks would be a disappointment.

“If we’re not the most dominant defensive line in the league, I feel like we’re not doing our job,” Vanden Bosch said. “I feel like we have the people, I feel like we have the weapons, so if we’re not doing it, we’re underachieving.”

The Lions have certainly invested a lot in having a dominant defensive line: They have two expensive defensive ends in Vanden Bosch and Cliff Avril and two highly drafted defensive tackles in Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley. They also go eight deep on the line, with Corey Williams, Lawrence Jackson, Willie Young and Sammie Hill as the other four in the rotation.

So the Lions may have the personnel to lead the league in sacks. And given the personnel in their secondary, they may need to lead the league in sacks if they want to return to the playoffs.