The defense set the early tone for the Detroit Lions in their 38-point blowout of the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

After the Lions punted on the opening possession, the defense nearly immediately returned the ball to the offense with an interception from second-year strongside linebacker Trevor Nowaske. The Canton native and Saginaw Valley State alumnus, signed off waivers just before the season, dropped into shallow coverage and a Mason Rudolph pass fell into his lap after Levi Onwuzurike got pressure.

It was the first of four turnovers forced by the Lions as they routed the Titans to move to 6-1 for the first time in 68 years. The first three of the four turnovers led to easy touchdown conversions, with short fields deep in Tennessee territory.

"You get four takeaways, it’s going to be hard for us to lose,” head coach Dan Campbell said.

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The Titans fought back early and came up with two touchdowns to match Detroit at 14 at the end of the first quarter. But backup cornerback and return specialist Khalil Dorsey returned the ensuing kickoff 72 yards to set up a touchdown pass to Brock Wright. Dorsey said he felt dared by Tennessee's kicker to return it after he kneeled the previous kickoff and the next kick came up just short of the end zone.

"I was just bouncing to the outside, saw my opening and took it," Dorsey said.

And then on Tennessee's first play after the touchdown, safety Kerby Joseph broke downhill from his deep zone to cut in front of tight end Chig Okonkwo on a crossing route for an interception. Soon after, Jared Goff found Amon-Ra St. Brown for a 1-yard touchdown early in the second quarter to push the lead to 14.

Joseph set a career high with his team-leading fifth interception through just seven games. (He had four picks each of the past two seasons.) The interception put Joseph second in the NFL, trailing just Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney, who recorded his sixth interception Sunday.

"It was a boot and really I just trusted my instincts," Joseph said. "And I felt like this is where he wants to go with the ball so I'm coming across the middle and just jumped it."

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The Lions' two forced fumbles came in the second half courtesy of nickel cornerback Amik Robertson. Early in the third quarter, the Titans opened a drive with an end-around to wide receiver Calvin Ridley. Ridley tried to juke between a pair of Lions' defenders five yards upfield, but Robertson, who signed a two-year deal with Detroit in free agency this past offseason, had a perfectly placed punch on the ball to knock it free, leading to a recovery by Carlton Davis III to set up a second touchdown from wide receiver and returner Kalif Raymond.

"I'm a ballhawk, no matter what they say," Robertson said. "That's what I do. If I can't get an opportunity to go out there and get a pick, I go out there and hunt after the ball. I haven't been punching after the ball the past couple of weeks but I told myself, 'man, you got to get back to your style of play' and I think that's what I did tonight."

Two Tennessee possessions later, Robertson made the most of what ended up being the final possession for the Lions' defensive starters. Rudolph dumped a pass behind the line of scrimmage to Okonkwo, who was met by Robertson again. He punched the ball loose again and this time, defensive end Isaiah Thomas jumped on the loose ball.

"It's just about the timing and when there's opportunity to do it," Robertson said. "And I just feel like there were certain times I was out there that was my opportunity. I could've had three."

Lions living up to Glenn's ideal defensive philosophy

The defensive chaos on display throughout Sunday exemplified the style preached by defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, though it wasn't perfect. It has started to come to fruition, turnover-wise, with 10 takeaways in the past three games, though the pressure was not consistently present.

"You emphasize it and you try to take it as serious as you can, and they need to be like game reps and it’s punch-outs and it’s strips because look, the interceptions will come," Campbell said. "Those things will come, and if the ball carrier’s loose with it naturally, those will come."

The Lions struggled to generate pressure with most of their defensive end options banged up, but they created four extra possessions for the offense, in scoring the most points by any NFL team in a game this year.

"We are living out the defensive philosophy that we have for ourselves," Joseph said. "Our identity is attack the ball. We know we are going to get interceptions but the punchouts, that's where we wanted to improve."

The Lions came into the game with a plus-six turnover differential, tied for the third-best mark in the NFL before this weekend, before pushing that figure to plus-10. The Lions have 10 interceptions and five forced fumbles, while the offense has only turned it over five times this year.

"They work on both of those techniques every single day," Dorsey said of Robertson and Joseph. "We punch out the ball every single day, it's nothing new. (Amik) was due for a couple and he got a couple and Kerby, that man is just a ballhawk."

The competition within the secondary has helped fuel turnovers; Joseph said it comes from a shared responsibility of trying to create big plays.

"It comes with accountability like knowing your job (and) doing your job in order to make these plays," Joseph said. "We all just don't want to depend on one guy. We all depend on each other as a defense, especially as DBs, we depend on each other, we all work together."

Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press covering the city's professional teams, the state's two flagship universities and more. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22, and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions turnover-hawking defense helps deliver blowout of Titans