Before Jared Goff finished his interview session after Sunday’s playoff win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Detroit Lions quarterback had something to tell the assembled media.

“I’ll finish with this,” Goff said. “I didn’t get a chance to say it, but I want to give a lot of credit to Aaron Glenn tonight. And I know you guys didn’t ask me about our defense, but our defense played their tails off and he deserves a ton of credit for what he’s done these last handful of weeks.”

The Lions finished 19th in the NFL in total defense this season and 23rd in points allowed, a far cry from their lowly rankings last year but still in the bottom half of the league.

They were mediocre in some areas (red zone and goal-to-go situations in particular) and light’s out in others (stopping the run), but they’ve come alive in the playoffs when they’ve delivered a steady stream of big plays.

In last week’s wild-card win over the Los Angeles Rams, the Lions held the Rams without a touchdown in three red zone possessions and forced a punt from their own territory on L.A.’s final offensive possession.

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On Sunday, they harassed Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield with timely blitzes that stymied drives and intercepted two passes, including one by linebacker Derrick Barnes with 1:33 to play that clinched the game.

Glenn, in his third season as Lions defensive coordinator, has toiled in the shadows of Campbell and brilliant offensive coordinator Ben Johnson for most of his time in Detroit, but his contributions are as big a reason as any why the Lions are one of the last four teams standing in the NFL playoffs.

The Lions play the San Francisco 49ers at 6:30 p.m. Sunday in the NFC championship game for the right to go to the Super Bowl.

“I mean, where do I begin?” Campbell said Monday. “Let me start with what he did and what he does. I mean, the amount of hours that he grinds on tape to prepare his players, his coaches, but himself for what he thinks is going to come and for where he feels the game is going to go and what he feels like he needs to call in that time relative to what he believes that coordinator’s going to call is — there’s nobody that works harder. There’s nobody. And he’s got great vision for putting a plan together.”

Glenn’s vision for how to stop the Bucs came to life with the type of aggressive secondary play that became a staple of the Lions defense in the second half of the season.

Ifeatu Melifonwu had a sack on Tampa’s fourth offensive play when he came unblocked off left end to stall a drive.

Brian Branch made a similar play two series later, dropping Mayfield for a 9-yard loss on a slot cornerback blitz to force the Bucs to settle for a field goal.

And Melifonwu and Jalen Reeves-Maybin split another sack on yet another safety blitz in the third quarter.

“Aaron did a great job,” Tampa coach Todd Bowles said after the game. Asked later about the Lions’ blitz packages, Bowles said, “They disguised it well. They had a couple free runners on the edge. One time, we just fell down, but they did a good job scheming some of the things.”

Defensive coaches rarely get the schematic credit of their offensive counterparts, and Glenn is no different. He’s caught more heat for the Lions’ ordinary four-man pass rush and troubles in pass coverage than he has earned praise for his exotic blitzes and constant in-season tinkering.

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But Glenn’s ability to call a game is only part of why Campbell swears by him as defensive coordinator — and why four NFL teams (the Atlanta Falcons, Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Chargers and Washington Commanders) have lined up to interview him for their vacant head coaching jobs this offseason.

Glenn interviewed virtually with all four teams last week.

Like Campbell, one of his good friends and mentors, Glenn is known as a consummate leader and he’s shown the ability to galvanize players, even those who aren't totally happy with their roles in Detroit.

This year alone, Glenn has benched respected veterans Tracy Walker and Charles Harris, turned a starting cornerback job over to someone on the practice squad (Kindle Vildor), created roles for all three of his talented linebackers (Barnes, Alex Anzalone and Jack Campbell) and done the same with a logjam at safety.

“He’s probably one of the best leaders I’ve been around, and Dan included,” Anzalone told the Free Press last week. “Just as far as his relatability, how he teaches is second to none and the best thing about him is that even just as a coordinator, he teaches and explains why he calls certain things and tries to help us understand what he sees. He’ll sit in front of the room and take accountability if we’re watching game film and he said he doesn’t like a call that he made. He’ll self-admit that and I think that’s, when you have a guy that’s not afraid to lead and look at himself in the mirror at the same time, it goes a long way for players. … That’s like Leadership 101.”

The Lions haven’t been perfect defensively this postseason. Puka Nacua and Mike Evans have torched their secondary for 181 and 147 yards receiving, respectively, the past two games, and Matthew Stafford was largely immune to Glenn’s pressure while throwing for 367 yards and two touchdowns.

And Glenn would be the first to say his unit needs to be much better for the Lions to beat Christian McCaffrey and the 49ers this week.

But Goff’s words Sunday were telling, and if any of the teams looking to hire Glenn as a head coach were listening, Campbell added his own powerful endorsement Monday.

“When you start talking about his leadership, he’s one of these guys — he’s special,” Campbell said. “He’s special. He’s got it. His ability to communicate, to relate, to push, to grind, to love, demand, he’s got it all. He’s an outstanding communicator, he’s an outstanding teacher and I mean he just — he is. That’s what I say, I’m fortunate that he’s on staff with me.”

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions' Aaron Glenn, defense have emerged in playoff run