A crazy old Defensive coordinator that has been required to run a conservative defensive scheme for 4 years, with a Defense that lacks a decent DLine….

=Blitzy Defense.

I think we can blitz, we just didn’t get the chance last season. It’s true, our linebackers are the strength, so having Peterson and Sims sprinting from the outside should be good. Plus, Avril and White & Devries are solid edge rushers, given the chance, they can make sacks.
While it may allow a QB to find gaps in our secondary, it should at least cut down his time, as opposing QB’s seemed to have way too much of it last season. As far as I’m concerned, the more blitz’s the better.

….its better then the 10% Marenelli did……That secondary wasent picked apart was it?……It doesnt matter if they blitz or not….id rather see them blitz and take the chance that they might get a 2nd and 20 and have a chance to stop the other team.

we’ll have to blitz to get pressure. It’s not a matter of whether we can or not, it’s simply a matter of “we have to”. Unless Avril turns out a 12-15 sack breakout year and is constantly in the backfield, the Lions – more specifically, Cunningham – will have to come up with clever ways to apply pressure. This was Marinelli’s big faux pas last year… not coming up with clever ways to blitz. It wasn’t in his scheme and he wasn’t breaking from his scheme. Schwartz and Cunningham will not be stubborn about it. From everything I can tell, Schwartz is willing to bend his scheme to whatever works. That’s a very good thing for Detroit. Now it’s up to the players to execute.

Remember, we’ve got Peterson and I think Sims is quick enough to get there as well – he’s just never really been used in that capacity before. Peterson will be a good decoy for the Sim’s blitzes…. you know, have Peterson rush the line, then drop back into coverage, while Sims bullrushes from the outside instead. Also, don’t forget about corner and safety blitzes. Delman, Buchanon and Keith Smith are all fast enough and sure enough tacklers to make it to the backfield. The Lions will just have to be clever enough to slide coverage and disguise the package.

But once again, I just can’t see the D-Line getting consistent pressure, so they’ll have to blitz.

In my view the past 8 years we’ve given up yards and big plays blitzing or not, I’d rather seem them go after the QB and give up the yards rather than not and still giving them up. I also think Gunner will use his players better than used in the past.

…is it causes confusion for the Offense, and pressure on the QB. This generally will lead to missed assignments, hurried passes, and hopefully some sacks and turnovers!

Sure we may get burned a few times, but we should come out ahead if can keep the pressure on. Remember we have Megatron who will burn the other team back…

The bottom line is Marinelli couldn’t coach his way out of a wet paper bag.
Gunther worked for a head coach in KC, who is ultimately responsible – (and gone.)
And Schwartz is tough AND analytical. He’ll make Marinelli look like a high school coach when it’s all said and done. The author of the article was just clueless…and wrong.

This is a true new beginning for the Lions…

5% of the time can be “up to” 40%.

 Can make offensive lines make un-needed adjustments and give the DL a 1/2 a step even when the blitz isn’t coming. It will also make opposing Offensive coordinaters spend time preparing for the many blitz packages Gunner will throw at them. Yes in the grand scheme of things the blitz will help our defense improve.

We have a great young speedy edge rusher in Cliff Avril, who will probably bulk up this season. Then we have an established vet in Dewayne White, possibly the best guy on the line. Grady Jackson will command a double team, allowing Clfif and White to go one and one, as well as freeing up linebackers to make plays then you have DeVries coming in for stints. The personnel is adequate, but a great defensive coordinator will be able to cover up deficiencies with the right scheme.

Multi-packages. Safety blitzs. Corner Blitzs. Hell blitz the punter and cheerleaders( if we ever get some). Be aggressive not passive. The Lions were way to predictable last year. I would love to see some " Controlled Chaos", from our Defense this year. From what I have read or heard in interveiws. Players get fired up when the DC calls a blitz.

I guess the lions could go back to the famed cover 2 or just drop everyone into coverage and give the QB all day to throw. Come on dude. What else do you need to blitz? I get that the d-line is a bit suspect but if the lions would have had a stellar d-line, we might not have had a 0-16 season.
I agree with all the above posters, blitz all day long. By disrupting the QB, you disrupt the whole offense. Go get him Gunner.

If you blitz 40% of the other time the opposing QB will be so rattled he will swear it was 80%. With a really poor d-line what else can you do? God I miss big baby. Between him and Grady we would have 1 full time DT.

How many of those 40% are going to be on shortyardage situations? And in our division with 2 young studs in the backfield in Chi and Minn how many run blitzes are in those games. We need to blitz as much as possibly. Last year there were plays on third down of over 15 yards completed for first downs in almost every game/half. We need to blitz on downs like that so that the QB has to check down to the safty valve.

But the secondary is weak that it might create a fatal flaw that will allow other teams to score alot. But its worth a try in the preseason

I love hearing we are FINALLY going to blitz!!!!! With how pathetic our Dline is we need to blitz a lot in order to create pressure. Do you seriously think Chuck Darby is going to do anything special? I know I don’t think he is worth a fiddlers F***. During our Tampa 2 fiasco how many times did you see us blitz? Not often, it was darn near the same zone coverage play almost every single play it seemed like.

For those of you who think it is a mistake to blitz our linebackers your insane. That is partially why we got Peterson was due to his pass rush abilities. He is far better at pass rushing and pressuring the QB than that waste of skin Cory Redding. The Lions of old had a vision. It was to offer fat contracts to failures such as Redding and remember that turd Kalimba Edwards, those two bums.

In order for this team to be competitive we need to get another decent stop gap DT other wise we are in for another season of utter disappointment.