Detroit Lions DE Za'Darius Smith promises "a lot of fire" against his former team

Playing in the biggest regular season game of the NFL season wasn’t on the agenda for Za’Darius Smith at the start of the season, but he’s ready to take advantage of the opportunity Sunday night against his former team.

Smith, a midseason trade acquisition before the Week 10 trade deadline, will line up on the edge of the Detroit Lions’ defensive line in their Week 18 showdown against the Minnesota Vikings, one of his four former teams before Detroit.

The winner of the Lions-Vikings showdown receives the NFC top seed and wins the NFC North.

Detroit Lions defensive end Za'Darius Smith (99) tackles San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Austen Pleasants (62) during the second half at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Monday, December 30, 2024 , under pressure.

“I wasn’t thinking about it in October, man,” Smith told the Free Press. “So it’s just a blessing to be in this situation and be able to fight for a first-round bye and first place.”

Smith has spent five of his 10-year NFL career with three different NFC North teams, including now with the Lions. Smith signed with the Green Bay Packers as a free agent in 2019 and was a two-time Pro Bowler in three seasons. Green Bay released him in the 2022 offseason, which led to him signing with the Vikings for one season, where he was named to the Pro Bowl for the third time.

The Lions could have secured the No. 1 seed last week if the Packers had beaten the Vikings on Monday night and Detroit had won over the San Francisco 49ers. But the Vikings defeated Green Bay 27-25, setting up a winner-take-all showdown. Smith said he was happy with the result and set up the monumental finale.

“I talked about it last week if Green Bay had beaten them, we would have gotten into the division,” Smith said. “But I told everyone, ‘Man, I’d rather have the division in this game.’ Week 18, at home, 8 p.m., night game – the whole world will be watching. …You’ll get one. I have a lot of fire for this game.”

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The Vikings traded him to Cleveland for a fifth-round pick in 2023, where he had 10½ sacks in 25 games before being sent to Detroit as additional backup at this year’s deadline.

“There are a few things I still know about (Minnesota’s) guys on the offensive side of the ball,” Smith said. “Hopefully I can use some of these keys for this game. But you know, it’s all love, man.”

He alternated between playing as one of the key passers on Detroit’s injury-plagued defensive line, including against key perimeter starters like Aidan Hutchinson. In seven games with Detroit, Smith made six starts with three sacks, two tackles for loss, eight quarterback hits and nine combined tackles.

His time on the field varied from just under half of the defensive stops in games like the win over the Green Bay Packers to around 80% of the snaps a week earlier on Thanksgiving against the Chicago Bears.

Smith said the circumstances of the game against the Vikings were “basically the same” as the game against the Packers, but he still wanted to beat his former team. The Packers cut Smith after he appeared in just one game in 2021, while the Vikings honored his trade request by sending him to a new team in Cleveland.

“The cut and the trade are completely different,” Smith said. “I demanded a trade from the Vikings. That’s why I feel like going back now and playing against them is a little revenge. To play against the Packers, they cut me out too, so it’s basically the same thing.”

The Lions will need the best of Smith on Sunday against Minnesota as they look for more impact through the pass rush. Detroit ranks in the bottom five in sack rate (6.2%), which has fallen sharply over the course of the season since Hutchinson’s ouster. The Vikings’ offense has allowed 47 sacks this season, a sack rate of 8.48%.

Earlier Friday, coach Dan Campbell said he wasn’t sure to what extent Smith could use his previous experiences in Minnesota as fuel, but said that feeling is present in every player who faces a former team.

“I think you’ll use some of them,” Campbell said. “So some of these visiting captains will be going up against an old foe to flip the coin.”

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Detroit Lions DE Za’Darius Smith promises “a lot of fire” against his former team

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