Darius Slay isn’t holding back when it comes to his thoughts on the Detroit Lions’ offense. The former Lions cornerback, now with the Philadelphia Eagles, recently appeared on the Pick a Side podcast, where he revealed that Detroit was the team he most wanted to face in the playoffs. His reasoning? He believes the Lions’ offense is “too cute” and that Philadelphia’s defense would have handled them with ease.
Slay, who spent five seasons in Detroit before being traded to the Eagles in 2020, pointed to the Lions’ creativity and frequent trick plays as a reason he wanted the matchup. “A team I kind of wanted to play was the Detroit Lions,” Slay said. “Their defense was physical, but they offense was a cute offense. You know what I’m saying? We call it cute because they did a lot of trick plays, a lot of this and a lot of that.”
The veteran corner didn’t stop there, saying the Eagles prided themselves on toughness and wouldn’t have been fazed by Detroit’s approach. “We was like, ‘Nah, we don’t want to do that cute s**t,’ because we just knew. We just knew. Yeah, we wanted to play the Detroit Lions.”
Slay then took his critique up a notch, comparing the Lions to a “gorilla at the zoo” while suggesting that a matchup with the Eagles would have been like taking them into the “jungle” to see if they could survive. “They were like a little, one of them gorillas that be at the zoo that just look at you and be just sitting there and eats,” Slay said. “No, we would go bring their ass to the jungle, and see if they can climb the same trees that we’re climbing.”
Slay’s comments add some extra heat to what could be a developing rivalry between the two teams. The Lions have become one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses under offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, and while their creative play-calling has been praised, it’s clear not everyone in the league is impressed. If Detroit and Philadelphia meet next season, Slay’s words might just be bulletin-board material for the Lions’ locker room.
