is the lack of a pass rush. You cannot win in this league when the opposing QB has that much time to wait for a receiver to come open. When you cannot get off the field consistently on 3rd and long, then you are not a playoff team. Don’t know what Austin Bryant will bring to the party, maybe he develops into a good rush guy in a year or two. Hope so. Other thing is, the Lions had Prescott a few times and let him get away. Can’t let that happen.
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I’ve been saying it and saying it. We sat with tons of money, and didn’t draft one in round one. Dumb
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Yep it’s clear as day.
And it’s something you bet other teams game plan for. Okay, we’re gonna have extended time for routes to develop… so we’ll run routes that take advantage of it.
patricas windows surface is the culprit,all he do is confuse players
The whole defense is soft, cannot pressure QB’s , be disruptive , get sacks , on any continuous basis THEN you couple it with piss poor tackling and NOT stopping runs , wrapping up .
this is why I say this offseason has to be a STRONG defensive one…except for a KEY O-line piece.
we NEED vet help as well from free agents .
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The problem is I don’t see a rook coming in and changing the equation. Flowers has played much better than people think, he’s playing hurt. There’s no Suh in this next draft is there?
I think pass rush has to be fixed by a free agent. I liked seeing Daniels make a play, but they can’t pay him another 8m again without thinking he’s going to blow another tire. A healthy Hand would help. But again…
They seem to be in no-man’s land really on the pass rush. I’d go after Chase Young and play him at OLB, seems to be the way to go if they’re going to go big. It’ll take a trade up. But at least then they have a player that will outlive this regime, if necessary.
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people-even Lions fans flat hated Suh when he was here…cried, whined, bitched, and moaned until he was off the team.
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We’re definitely thinking alike here.
I agree Wise. To me this defense has a lot of fine roll players which is important. We also have a very solid player in Flowers and I like Kennard. We can get a pocket pushed with our big boys but we just cannot generate serious outside pressure and we are not a great blitz team.
Having Hand and rookie Bryant might have helped a lot as those are the positions they would play. At least some of the time.
I hope we can bring Daniels back in 2020 along with a healthy Snacks. Add to that Flowers, Hand, Bryant, Okwara, possibly a re-signed Robinson and add a top rookie to that line and I am happy.
To me it is the LBer core that is second on the list in needing upgrades. Jarrad Davis is not a guy worth tagging. This defense needs a solid edge player and one additional really, really good LBer. We need to keep Slay.
The thing about man coverage is that it works but not when teams have all day to throw the football.
Pass rush is one of those aspects in which a rookie can help. Josh Allen already has 8 sacks.
I think the team’s problem may run deeper than that though. We’re just sloppy and I look at our head coach and I don’t see how that changes
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Just to quibble a little. I wouldn’t tag Davis either, he’s out of position too often IMHO and ends up missing tackles, or he’s too out of control when he blitzes and the QB gets away from him too much. And BTW who the hell is supposed to be covering the RB out in the flats? Somebody is effing up too often, I think it’s Davis most of the time and he or whoever ain’t where they’re supposed to be.
I dunno about Slay, he has one more year to go on his current contract and I suspect he won’t get an extension from the Lions. My guess is, he’ll look for the top dollar he can get and it won’t be here. So, Oruwariye, let’s see what you got kid.
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Evan Weaver from Cal is terrific. I’d love to add him at LB. Like a more athletic Tavai. He’s Cal’s best pass rusher, he’s their best coverage LB, he’s the most prolific tackler in the country and he’s gotten in much better shape and is playing “twitchier.”
He’s a more instinctive but less freaky Leighton Vander Esch.
PS Bring Back Robert Porcher
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Screamed this for years at the other board. Constantly responded to with “The scheme will take care of it!” Every single year.
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It’s the poor pass rush and followed closely by a lack of speed on the front seven of the D, which is related I suppose. Running game would be after those two, IMO
To be fair, we signed both Trey Flowers and Mike Daniels to large money deals to try to improve our pass rush. We looked forward to Hand playing a lot more this year. Drafted Austin Bryant in the 4th round. Now should we have traded down and drafted Brian Burns like I wanted to do? Yes. But there was some effort there in FA and the draft and none of it worked out, until the past 2 games with Flowers and Daniels together. Haven’t had one game with Flowers, Daniels, Hand and Bryant available at once. It is our weakest area and I’m hoping another couple rushers are in the offering next year and the scheme needs some tweaking as it isn’t helping generate pressure. Today, the tackling was just atrocious which was a new added bonus…
Hell …
PS Bring Back Anthony Zettel 
2 Likes
Even if there was one we would draft a TE.
Matt P. Clearly doesn’t want to bring pressure this year for some reason.
Al “Bubba” Baker, Michael Coffer, Jerry Ball, Suh and Fairley. Let’s do this!
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I still maintain that us playing sloppy and undisciplined is a bigger threat to the Patricia regime than simply the pass rush.
I risk encroaching on territory I know nothing about, but from afar he seems like the type that has gotten away with some bad habits Bc he is so brilliant. Now he’s in a situation in which those bad habits have translated to the team play and simply do not have the roster to overcome it.
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