YUUUP!
YUUUP!!!
…and Hoch! I"m not quite sure how getting rid of Hochenson helped the defense, but it sure seemed to. 
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Correct - we are 0-0… tied for first! …tied for last!
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Nothing beats a ladies soccer match that ends in a 0-0 tie!
If Jack Campbell plays like a 1st rounder should. I see no reason on paper this a top 15 defense at the very worst. There’s no glaring weakness with this defense. CB and DT depth are arguably the biggest weak spots. A good defensive cordinator would have this D as a top 10 unit. Guess we’ll see how good Glenn really is this year.
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Top 10 defense and then we get those magic beans I crave!
2 beans for AG, and 2 more beans for Agnew! We’re going to be in Bean Heaven.
This defense deserves the bad rap. It was horrible two seasons in a row.
I also feel the argument that it got better is more smoke and mirrors than actual truth. Let me explain….
If you look at 2021 and 2022 the defense appeared to get better both years. 2022 was historically bad after such a strong finish to 2021 … why?… a lot of fans after 2021 thought the defense had arrived. Many thought AO and Okudah were going to lead an all star secondary. I warned them it was smoke and mirrors.
A closer look in both years and you see that what really transpired was the offense improved greatly each year. They improved due to the emergence of St. Brown, and WR’s and OL getting healthy. The offense began eating up the time of possession. This put our defense on the bench for as much as 30% more than they were at the start of the season. The defense playing less time means they will give up less points. Making them look better than they actually were. If you take the time to really dig into the stats you’ll come to the same realization. It’s visible in the numbers.
Now don’t get me wrong. We saw growth on the defense last year. Both at LBer and the DL but we did not in our secondary.
Dan and Holmes recognized that and went out and addressed the secondary hard in FA. They kept the DL mainly intact and added a couple LBers to help the rotation. They’re banking on that DL and LBer group to continue to improve and grow.
I think we had enough talent last year on defense to rank higher than they did but that secondary really held the defense back. With the improved pieces at DB this defense has enough talent to be above mediocre. Ranking somewhere between 11th and 15th would be a reasonable expectation.
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So I just went and looked up the numbers again.
There was a point in time were the Lions defense last year was on the field nearly 32 min a game (on a 3 game average). But near the end of the season there was a 3 game stretch where they averaged 29 min a game on the field.
That’s 3 min more they were on the field per game. That ranks them from around the worst in the NFL at 32 min a game to top 10 at 29 min a game.
Also defenses who averaged those 3 minutes more also averaged giving up about 10 more points a game.
That’s a huge swing in just time of possession.
So then you have to dig in more closely. Was the defense making more stops or was the offense sustaining much longer drives. A closer look shows some small improvement on the defense but it was the offense that really improved and made the difference.
So let’s look closer at some other stats to prove my point.
At the end of October the Lions were 25th in 3rd down conversion rate. By the end of the season they were still 25th…… NO Improvement.
Let’s look at points per play. At the end of October the Lions were ranked dead last in opponents points per play. That means they were giving up the most point per play in the NFL. Meaning they were the easiest team to score on. By seasons end the Lions defense improved slightly to 31st. Only the Bears were worse. Basically NO real Improvement.
At the end of October the Lions defense was giving up 32 points a game. Making them the 32nd ranked defense. By seasons end they were still ranked 32nd but they were giving up 6 points less a game. Still no real Improvement. Truth is with 3 minutes less time on the field they should have given up 10 points less. So one could easily argue they got worse even.
I can go on and on here. Our defense sucked last year. They deserve the bad rap they got. They are the reason this team missed the playoffs and to be honest I think our offense was better than the numbers showed. Had they gotten the same opportunities that KC, PHI or BUF had gotten I believe the offense would have been the number 1 ranked offense. The defense held the offense back and the offense made the defense look better than they really were.
If our offense can repeat what it did last year and our defense can improve to just an average defense then this team is a real contender.
I think that’s a realistic possibility too …
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I remember you talking about a likely AO flop. GREAT call on that one.
100% on point.
I would like to add → if we had more pressure, the DBs would not be as big an issue. I never saw AO flopping to THAT degree…holy ■■■■!
I still think Okudah could be good, but he’s not a sure thing.
We have proven vets with what looks to be p’n’comers behind them.
IMO, next offseason will be the time for more OL depth, More CB depth…even CB starter potentially. Some of our new guys are 1 year band-aides that will need to be replaced.
Looking forward to see who proves what and in which ways, for sure.
Hoping for 15+ defense with 3+ranked offense…quite likely #1.
Will need OL and QB health. Substancial dropoff if Gibby gets hurt too. Need him healthy, though I love Monty in the role I suppose he will play.
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Absolutely agree with you! The Lions defense went from atrocious to just bad to end the season. And from what I saw the improvement came from the players making some big time playmaking plays. Kerby, Hutch, Houston really stepping up to end the season deserve more credit then Glenn making adjustments.
I’m no Glenn fan and think the Lions talent will make him look better than he is. But he has the chance to prove me wrong this year.
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Very well said. A lot of people do this.
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My money is on , DL, LB, OL next year. I suspect we will look to add a DB or two as well.
I think we will see some changes at Edge next year. We can’t possibly carry everyone we have long term so I suspect either Harris or ROkwara are gone next year and we will add more youth there.
I think the Lions are going to continue to invest in that OL every year.
I like AG as a person. He’s a really like-able guy. He’s a good secondary coach. But he is lacking in the X and O department and I firmly believe he was in over his head last year.
Insert John Fox - This was a huge move for the Lions and I think Dan recognized that AG needed some serious help. Fox is supposed to be freeing up AG so that he can concentrate more on coaching the back end of the defense. Fox should be instrumental in helping AG with structure, game management and game planning. I highly expect him to have a big impact on that defense.
My only concern with Fox is that he’s not really a systems guy. He often left the X’s and O’s to his coordinators and he just added his input. His real strength is in structure. He’s a guy who emphasizes the basics and fundamental football. However he’s a good fit for what the Lions want to do. Fox lead defenses are one gap, pressure fronts that drop a lot into coverage. You’re not going to see a creative, exotic, type of defense from Fox. They are fundamentally solid, smart, tough and physical defenses that are built on fundamental football… I believe that’s exactly what the Lions need and what they are built to do. He’s a good fit and a good coach. He will help AG with understanding the structure and foundation that is needed to be a good coach.
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A bad rap? Like this?
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That’s definitely no Ram It. Arguably the best rap ever made…
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Did Jeffrey Epstein write that song?
Ahhhh…yes to OL (always), as well as DL.
LB, I’m unsure about.
Loved your input on the her Fox. Good to know. I think the 4 man front is truly what they want, but we have so many edge/tweener guys that are not a fit for that.
We have some guys that can play DE, but we would need the right interior to free them up. Pressure interior guy? How good is Bro-Mart? Trade out some edges for a pure DE? I think Paschal might be a great DE? Who knows? Lots of ways to go with this thing. are we comfortable with RB3?
Monty is great, but what happens if he gets hurt?
Gibby is fantastic, but what happens if he gets hurt?
Those cats are really nice pieces, and if somethign happens to either one of them, there is an important piece missing.
Nope. God did.
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Right. And Sean feared Veronika was Jared’s muse.
Y’all are just hating because my Rams can Ram it! The Lions don’t do jack but lose all the damn time 
OK let’s do that.
“In the final 10 games, Detroit’s opponents averaged an 84.3 QB rating with a 14-10 TD-INT ratio and completed just 58.7% of their pass attempts. However, the opposition also averaged 5.3 yards per carry and had a 41.3% third-down conversion rate.” Now, considering that their D for the season allowed 5.2 ypc, rushing vs our D actually got better in that stretch.“the Lions bolstered a defense that allowed 5.2 yards per carry (tied for second worst) and 22 rushing touchdowns (tied for third-worst).”
You have to stop the run and you have to get off the field after 3rd down. While this next stat is likely to change, in that 10 game stretch of better play it still didn’t move the needle much. “Detroit’s defense allowed a first down on 37.3% of passing plays (third worst).”
And has been pointed out the D was the beneficiary of better play from the O as much as their own better play. Their identity needs to be established from Game 1, they need to hit the ground running which obviously will be a tall task considering their opponent.