Jim Schwartz shoots down idea of Lions switching to 3-4 defense

For those of you who want the Detroit Lions to have a new look on defense next season, don't get your hopes up. Lions head coach Jim Schwartz was asked on Monday down at the Senior Bowl about the possibility of the Lions changing their defensive scheme, and he made it known that they aren't going to switch to a 3-4. What's more, Schwartz dismissed the idea that their Wide 9 scheme was the problem in 2012. From MLive:

"We didn't have enough sacks this year," he said. "To be able to blame that on the Wide 9, the people that say that really don't know what they're talking about. Every team in league, when it's third down, lines up exactly the way we do it. It puts guys in the best position to rush the passer."

Schwartz did say that their scheme "depends on the personnel," indicating that the Lions could use a bit less of the Wide 9 depending on what happens with their roster during the offseason. Specifically, he said the Lions are "always working to look at and tweak," so nothing is set in stone. However, he also added that the Wide 9 is the Lions' "base front," so I wouldn't anticipate them going away from it.

This looks like it will be a situation where no matter what happens, Schwartz isn't going to scrap the Wide 9. Either the Lions will excel with it or Schwartz and company will go down in flames with it.

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