FanPost

Defensive Performance Game By Game Review


I read a recent comment by Alex Anzalone that went something like this, "over the second half of the season our defense was dominant." I loved reading and thinking that perhaps that was true but was it? Without going over all the games statistically, I really couldn't say I knew for sure if it was or wasn't true. So I decided to do a recap and see.

There are several ways to approach a review. I think the best approach is to review the passing defense and run defense in terms of yardage allowed. Obviously the overall points allowed and outcome is another aspect to consider as well.

Game by game, here's what happened:

Philadelphia gained 243 yards by passing - they also ran for 216 yards with Jalen Hurts being clearly a factor that the Lions had great difficulty with. Yet, the focus of this first half of the analysis is passing yardage, and 243 isn't a good or poor level, yet by scoring 38 points overall, it was clearly sufficient to win.

Washington gained 337 yards by passing. The running game was limited to 88 yards, so clearly the Commanders had to depend on passing to stay in the game. They failed to win, but did score 27 points. 337 yards is a major aerial assault and clearly the Lions were lacking in their defense in this area.

Minnesota gained 260 yards while also getting 123 yards on the ground. The Vikings scored 28 points so clearly they were effective, and earned the victory over the Lions. In this game Justyn Jefferson was contained but 260 yards offense by passing is definitely not skimpy production.

Seattle overwhelmed the Lions with 320 yards passing and 235 yards rushing. As they gave up 48 points this was perhaps their worst defensive performance of the year.

New England played a rookie QB that produced 188 passing yards, but had a commanding 176 yards rushing to score 29 points. I was so frustrated that the Patriots shut us out on offense that it was hard to give the defense much credit for doing anything right. With most shut outs you have to wonder if the Patriots in some way could have rolled up more yardage if needed, but didn't to provide the Lions with at least a shred of dignity.

Dallas had a relatively anemic 207 yards passing but a strong 139 yards rushing. Their defense held the Lions to just 6 points, as the Cowboys scored 24 points. Again the defense was over-shadowed by an underwhelming Lions offense.

Miami decimated the Lions with 382 yards passing. This game led to Audrey Pleasant's firing. As I looked at some game film it was clear the press coverage the Lion's DBs were asked to do couldn't be performed well and it led to horrible containment of the fast small receivers the Dolphins have. Allowing 31 points also doesn't seem to be a good mark for the Lions. 107 yards allowed rushing might have been restrained by how effective the passing game was.

Green Bay managed 291 yards passing but failed to complete drives and thus the Lions only allowed 9 points. It is a bit baffling to me about the failures Rodgers had in this game. Still, 291 yards against doesn't indicate a great passing defense. 106 yards on the ground seemed like more as you watched the game. but with the passing game working so well, I think the Lions were absolved of allowing more rushing yardage allowed.

Chicago managed 167 yards passing on the Lions. Clearly this was the worst passing team in the NFL last year. Whether it was poor receivers, poor offensive line play, or simply a predilection by Justin Fields to run if it appeared likely he could gain good yardage, passing containment can't get a lot of credit. 258 yards rushing kept the game to just a one-point scoring difference.

The New York Giants compiled 341 passing yards. The rushing offense of the Giants somehow was contained to just 87 yards, despite a healthy Shaquon Barkley. 341 yard thru the air is not a good measure of defensive prowess in my opinion, despite containing the Giants to just 18 points.

Buffalo had 253 yards passing with 164 yards rushing, thanks in part to the heroics of Josh Allen. This was a good effort by the Lions defense in my opinion given how dangerous so many players are on this offense. 28 points is not a great mark for the defense though.

Jacksonville earned just 179 yards passing and their rushing offense was contained to just 95. Something seemed to click for the Lions defense and the Jaguars were contained.

Minnesota gained 425 yards as Jefferson stretched the field repeatedly. The rush by the Vikings however only managed 22 yards. Again I would give the defense credit for a very solid game as only 23 points were scored despite the huge yardage accumulated by the Viking pass offense.

The New York Jets second year QB Zack Wilson gained 317 yards passing, while the Lions contained the Jets rushing offense to just 50 yards. Overall, this was a sound defensive game, but the yardage allowed makes far from stellar.

Carolina's Sam Darnold gained 250 yards passing while the teams running backs churned out a record 310 yards! The Lions also allowed a soul-crushing 37 points in this late season game.

Chicago's New Year's Day visit again brought the hapless pass offense into the Lions' clutches. Only a measly 75 passing yards were allowed, but 200 rushing yards were also amassed by the Bears as Fields again wasn't contained.

Green Bay was decimated by interceptions in the final game, but Rodgers still amassed 205 yards to keep the Packers in striking distance of winning.The Lions allowed 103 yards rushing.

As much as I would like to believe that Anzalone was right in believing that the Lions' defense progressed over the second half, and some games clearly showed marked improvement, it cannot be said that a clearly consistent and overwhelming defense was implemented that dominated opponents. Weaknesses of certain teams were exploited, and in a few instances some exemplary effort was achieved, yet it was not clearly a correction that anyone could rely upon.

Secondary (DB) help seems needed especially as the snap counts are examined for the key players over the last several games. Obviously a long season wears down players, but the rotation of the players between spots seems to indicate to me that more talent is definitely needed to improve the passing defense. The pressure by the interior defensive line might also be faulted, although I tend to like the overall results achieved by the line as the season progressed, with the lone exception being the Carolina game. Of course, Buffalo and Chicago also managed to accumulate substantial ground yardage as well indicating that some aspect of the Lions' defense is still overwhelmed in this area.

If I review the players on defense, not to pick on their faults, but to examine what areas would seem to need to improve I think I can come to some conclusion in terms of what is needed most:

DEs - strong and it seems there is good depth, especially if all players return healthy;

DTs - Onwuzurike may return healthy to provide improvement, but it seems that the team has just three players to rotate at this very important position. This is a high priority to improve or add depth.

LBs - Anzalone seemed to show significant improvement in the number of missed tackles he had. Rodriguez and Barnes are good young players. Beyond these three the team seems to have good special team contributors that hold the back-up roles. I would suggest that more help and quality is needed here.

DBs - the corner backs do not seem elite. The safeties seem to be developing into a very good and deep group. Corner backs consist of three components and none seem to be clearly "owned" by a player. This would seem to be the area where the most help or improvement is needed. Whether the draft or more established players should be brought in to help warrants careful consideration. Probably one veteran and two rookie additions would make sense, while one or two of their own free agents are resigned. Retaining Deshon Elliott seems like a important step too, to assure that this unit keeps improving.

Assuring that the strengths of the team continue to remain so, or progress even more so, is vital to their success too. Elliott, Anzalone, Cominski, Buggs, Hughes, and perhaps Harris seem to be priority free agent signings that the Lions should make on their defense. Moore I hope returns too given his versatility and special teams' prowess. Woods also apparently is also a special teams' ace. I wish I knew how likely Levi Onwuzurike was to return and be able to regain his ability to be a force on the interior or the D-Line. The D-Line seems to be a factor in all aspects of the defense and likely is a more important factor in immediately improving the defense. A shut-down corner is everyone's dream in the NFL, but the likelihood of drafting one that immediately makes a substantial impact seems low. Still a talented player that can become this player needs to be sought aggressively.

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