What’s going on with the Detroit Lions?
The Detroit Lions are headed into a much needed bye week as they look to regroup after a disappointing start to the season. With high expectations and an above average off-season, this debut wasn’t expected.
Let’s take a look at all the problems the Lions have faced and how they can improve on the other side of the bye.
Injuries, injuries and even more injuries
The Lions have been bitten by the injury bug early and often this year. With Swift struggling to stay on the field, the offensive line missing time and the captain of the defense tearing his ACL, one has to wonder when this will come to an end?
With the bye week upon us, it gives everyone time to heal and come back strong. Swift’s injuries weren’t serious, so extra time to rest gives him the opportunity to come back at 100%. The offensive line has been without starting guard Haloupati Vaitai since the start of the season, but he looks poised to return soon. Center Frank Ragnow and left tackle Taylor Decker were banged up but returned last week against the Patriots. With everyone back, they can hopefully begin to build some momentum and regain confidence in what they’re trying to accomplish.
As for Tracy Walker, he will be sidelined the rest of the season. In his place rookie third round safety Kerby Joseph has the opportunity to earn respect in Detroit, as he will see a significant increase in snaps.
Defensive Woes
There’s no other way of putting it, but the Lions defense has been absolutely unacceptable. With extra time and Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn on the hot seat, they have to come up with different ways that they can stymie opponents coming out of the bye week, as their schemes have been all too predictable thus far.
After a strong start, rookie Aidan Hutchinson has been close to invisible on the field. Many fans are beginning to wonder what’s wrong with the 2nd overall draft pick, but in reality there’s a simple fix that should get him going and that’s to have Hutch to stand up.
Simply put, Hutchinson is significantly better at getting to the QB when he’s standing up vs. when he lines up with a hand in the dirt. And more oft than not, in Weeks 1 through 5, the Lions have had Hutchinson in a 3 point stance.
If he’s able to pressure the QB, or at least move the pocket, the rest of the defense can thrive. Okudah looked fantastic the first few weeks when Hutchinson was forcing QBs to throw sooner, but with quarterbacks having all the time in the world he can only do so much in coverage.
Coaching has to improve
Lions fans have seen terrible coaching far too often over the years. However some of the decisions that Dan Campbell has made have been some of the worst football choices I’ve ever witnessed. From third and one deep passes, to going for it on 4th and 9 before halftime and ending up with a scoop and score, there’ve been more than a few head scratchers thus far.
Dan has always shown he isn’t afraid to risk it on Sunday. But there are times when you need to choose between being gutsy and being smart. Some decisions have been absolutely unacceptable and now have many questioning his job security if things don’t turn around. If the coaching staff can treat the opponents like they’re NFL players and not peewee backyard football, it’ll go a long way towards helping the Lions earn some much needed wins in the 2nd half of the season.
The season is far from over and there are key contributors for this team that have yet to take the field, however there’s plenty of work required this bye week for Detroit if they hope to keep any optimism alive down the stretch.
-Robert Martin
Twitter: @Defense_Rob
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.