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The big theme from the Detroit Lions' OTAs so far is that the defense is currently "ahead" of the offense. That was one of the big takeaways from last week's OTA that was open to the media, and it was more of the same on Wednesday when the media got another look at practice.
Defense ahead of offense again today. End of practice, offense 1 of 5 in must score situations. Only conversion a 2nd team offense 56-yd FG
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) May 28, 2014
Defense also appeared well ahead of offense. #Lions
— Michael Rothstein (@mikerothstein) May 28, 2014
Lions defense dominated today in team drills. Offense scored on 1 of 5 hurry-up situations.
— Josh Katzenstein (@jkatzenstein) May 28, 2014
Defense was ahead of the offense today and OC Joe Lombardi admitted he was getting a little angry at concentration issues on offense today
— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) May 28, 2014
Catching up on OTAs stuff now that I've had Jimmy Johns. Big takeaway: Defense still WAY ahead of the offense.
— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) May 28, 2014
There are really two ways to look at this. On the one hand, I suppose it's good that the defense is doing well, especially when you consider that Chris Houston and Nick Fairley have been out. Perhaps the defense has made some serious strides this offseason, and as Calvin Johnson said, this could make the offense better in the long run.
Megatron: "It’s good to see our defense performing at a high level right now. We’re going to get better because they’re so sharp right now."
— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) May 28, 2014
On the flip side, it sounds like the offense is dealing with more of the issues it had last season. Drops have been a problem, and Matthew Stafford seems to be having some accuracy issues.
Flip that around: Stafford really struggled with his accuracy today. Lions are tweaking his footwork now, so could be adjusting to that
— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) May 28, 2014
Considering it's still only May, it's wise to not overreact to this news either way. The Lions don't suddenly have a world-class defense, and the sky is not falling for the offense. Both sides of the ball are still adjusting to a new scheme and new coaches, and the defense just happens to be making the transition a bit quicker than the offense. By the time training camp arrives, hopefully most of the growing pains will be long gone for the offense, and hopefully performing at a high level will be the new norm for the defense.