Justin Rogers
@Justin_Rogers
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No Lions player offered specifics why the defense is failing, but Darius Slay offered harshest criticisms, saying they aren’t putting the puzzles pieces in the right spots and every opponent is beating them the same way with the same plays, since Week 1.
Old Guy Pasqualoni has tread marks on his back from that one.
He is not wrong though. They have sucked and it’s the same issues every week. Drop 8 into coverage and have 2 guys guard no one. Lose at point of attack all game long. Crossing routes, goal line pick play.
That is coaching.
Ya that pretty much sums it up
“This league is a copy cat league,” Slay told reporters in the locker room. "They see we have a problem with that, they all do the same thing. Everybody in the world knows we play this, so they run this. They do it all the time. We ain’t seeing nothing new. Ain’t new plays designed up. It’s the same ones we have a problem with since the first week of the season. I don’t know, we might be putting the pieces of the puzzle in the wrong spots.”
I wish they would attack more. Maybe they need to use 3-4 D more often.
Look at the blitz on the last touchdown that Carr threw. Two linebackers blitz, then stop at the line of scrimmage and jump around. They were essentially useless on the play. They were both basically standing right next to each other.
You are totally wrong Slay.
You just need to buy in.
We all thought the strength would be the versatility of this defense. We could bring pressure from all over and disguise it. Well we fail at every single aspect. We are bottom 3 on defense in…
Yards per…game, play, run, pass attempt, drive,completion
First downs per game, 3rd down %, turnovers, #of plays per drive. Points per game. Points per drive. Punts forced.
We’re on pace to allow 4800yds passing, that’s the good…2350yds rushing.
It’s not like we’re didn’t spend a crap load on the defense. It’s truly pathetic
I read this and I’m wondering what good it’ll do if they fire Pasqualoni. It ain’t his defense, it’s Patricia’s, so where’s the defensive genius that I thought we had, if what Slay is saying is true? BTW, his chances for a contract extension don’t look too good.
Paul is running the defense. I think moving on from him will help alot. We need a legit NFL caliber DC. I realize why Matt brought him in, but its time to move on now.
Yeah, I think it’s a fair assumption that having an old school (literally) college coach running what is supposed to be the most cutting edge D scheme in the league is a not a good match and hopefully a one-year temporary fix.
That said, can we pluck someone from the Pats if old Bill will let us? Looks like his son Steve is now 2nd in command there, apparently superceding Jerod Mayo the LBs coach. At present, the Pats have no actual DC, though it looks like Steve B. is the heir apparent there on the D side.
So can we pluck Mayo and would that bring this D up to snuff? I think it would be a positive move.
News from NE:
The Boston Herald reports that several players confirmed Steve Belichick has taken over the primary play calling role. That contradicts some previous reports that inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo was calling the defensive plays.
The Patriots have gone through three defensive coordinators in the last two years: Matt Patricia left to coach the Lions, then Brian Flores left to coach the Dolphins, then Greg Schiano resigned for personal reasons. Steve Belichick, who’s in his eighth year working for his dad, is the defensive coach who’s been with the program the longest.
Obviously, Steve Belichick wouldn’t be where he is without his dad giving him the job. And even if Steve is the primary play caller, his father undoubtedly deserves most of the credit for the well-coached Patriots defense. But players in New England have raved about their experience working with Steve Belichick. And even though the Patriots are always tight-lipped about the role that any individual coach plays in preparing the team, Steve Belichick is starting to get more credit for his own coaching work.
So, how do like your 3-4 scheme? So many have been clamoring for it.
While I"m not a fan of it, I liked it better when I thought we’d be bringing heat from all over the place. We seemed to have a strong DL that would be good against the run, and DBs that may be able to afford us some coverage sacks.
Instead, QBs have way too much time, LBs are not running around as freely as I hoped they would be, and we’re just giving up massive amounts of yards and points. If we switch systems, at least we have a lot of hybrid players.
We fully agree on this. We’ve been so vanilla its maddening.
I’d like to see this defense with a young former player like Mayo running the D. I’m sure he must be on their radar. The question is will Bill let him go. I noted above it’s pretty sly for Bill to NOT name a DC after losing so many. That way he can promote more than one this offseason to new titles and keep his coaches in place. But perhaps he would let the Lions have one of his guys?
Slay said what we all knew for weeks!!! Good!!! The team never replied to my Facebook comments about this, hell they never read them I’m sure. Thank you Slay!
Bill also won’t let anyone go unless until they fulfill their contract. By not having a defensive coordinator named, does this prevent other teams from interviewing/hiring a NE defensive coach for a HC gig?
In this scenario, I think teams will have to ask for Bill’s permission.
They’ve changed the rules a little bit over the years, but I don’t think there’s any real advantage from that standpoint.
A team can deny interviews for an assistant coach under contract interviewing for a non-head coach position but must be granted permission to interview with another team if the interview is for a head coach position.
