FanPost

Step Back from the Ledge my friend. Let me show you why not all is lost....

Yesterday was another day in an awful season, no doubt about it. However, I believe there is reason to hope and believe in a better season next year with just minor tweaks rather than a massive overhaul. We all know the record, and furthermore we all know the real scrore, there are several distinct games this year that had calls not gone against us, the balls bounced our way, etc, we would be in the thick of the playoff push right now rather than on the cusp of drafting 3rd overall in April. With that in mind, and seeing the very round-robin way in which teams across the NFL have been taking turns beating each other, has made certain things very clear, and the points being driven home are not the same that you may expect. The disparity in talent level between a majority of NFL teams not named Jacksonville or Kansas City is is very thin to negligible, with injuries and continuity playing key roles in the fortunes of many franchises.



Best, Broyles, Burleson, Pettigrew, and yes, even Titus Young. Those are the players who were MIA from the field on Sunday, a decent starting lineup in their own right for some teams out there. You simply don't lose that type of depth and quality and expect there not to be a dropoff on the field. Getting that type of depth and quality back on the field would do a lot to change the fortunes of the teams on field performance. Having an offensive line that has been together in the same system for years has also paid massive dividends for this team as well. However, with the guys currently at the disposal of Linehan to work with, it doesn't take much for a defensive coordinator to come up with a gameplan to stop us at this point in the year. Chris Durham, really?

On the defensive side, I think the announcers hit the nail on the head when they said our defensive ends were underperforming and we need a shutdown corner. We got negligible edge pressure on Lindley yesterday, and that has been the case more often than not throughout the year. Give a QB time, and it makes our corners look even worse than they truly are. Personnel aside, it may be time to send Gunther on his way. Lack of pressure game after game, is not the tough and aggresive defense he advertised to us fans when he took the job. One word - Blitz. I think a different scheme and a different approach on the defense could stand to benefit a lot of the outstanding talent we have on that side of the ball.

Special Teams - Screwed us again during the formative stages of the game. We need a new special teams coordinator that know his rear-end from a hole in the ground, plain and simple. We need a returner that is capable of being a threat to take it to the house every time he touches the ball.

Overall, I think this team is in need of more fine tuning than massive overhauls, and I think a lot of people see the same thing. It remains to be seen how massively free agency will reshape this team, but I think the future is bright for this team, and I usually don't partake of the kool-aid fyi. Just some food for thought, but I'd love to hear your opinion as well.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pride Of Detroit or its writers.