If dominant DT is what's needed then why has DET defense been so avg/bad

[Parcells4Life]

Since Fairley and Suh have played together and formed best DT duo in terms of pressuring QB, Lions have ranked 16, 13 and 23 in defense.

So is their secondary THAT bad or is there some other factor because everyone here wants 2 dominant DT and assume all will be well.

Perhaps it's not the best DT which matter but the best DE duo which contains the pocket and doesn't allow things to spill outside.

Would this change who you target? Maybe higher emphasis on Dee Ford and a 3rd or 4th on Jeffcoat.

 

[Illini88228]

Defense is a group effort. One or two dominant players cannot make a defense good against a modern NFL offense without help. The days of single defenders dominating an offense are over. Ware has been the best past rusher in football over the last decade, and even he hasn't been enough to make our defense dominant. Making a defense better has to be about shoring up weaknesses. On this defense I would argue that the whole defensive line is a major area of weakness, so you take whoever the best defensive lineman is you can get your grubby little mitts on.

 

[dogunwo]

Since Fairley and Suh have played together and formed best DT duo in terms of pressuring QB, Lions have ranked 16, 13 and 23 in defense.

So is their secondary THAT bad or is there some other factor because everyone here wants 2 dominant DT and assume all will be well.

Perhaps it's not the best DT which matter but the best DE duo which contains the pocket and doesn't allow things to spill outside.

Would this change who you target? Maybe higher emphasis on Dee Ford and a 3rd or 4th on Jeffcoat.

Their secondary is pretty average. This is why I can't stand it when people think you can have an awesome front and just trot some nobodies out there in the defensive backfield and you will be awesome. You need players back there too. No, you don't need all pros at every position, but they need to be good players too. There is a reason why cornerback is the most expensive position on defense.

 

[Frozen700]

DE's make the world go round

 

[JoeyBoy718]

They had a solid pair of DEs throughout the past few years. Avril had some really good seasons. I don't know if Vanden Bosch was in his prime still when Suh was dominating. But they've had decent DEs. I would say the Panthers have the perfect complete D-line. Solid DTs, DEs and depth. Not to mention they have possibly the best LBer in the game.

 

[TrailBlazer]

Need to do whatever we can to assure that we will be able to get pressure on opposing qb's in 2014. The obvious move is to draft dline. Hopefully one good DT and one good edge rusher can come out of this upcoming draft.

 

[Parcells4Life]

How bout LDE - Ford, DT Jernigan, DT Crawford, RDE - Ware with bass, selvie and Jeffcoat as primary backups.

 

[Jenky]

Defense is a group effort. One or two dominant players cannot make a defense good against a modern NFL offense without help. The days of single defenders dominating an offense are over. Ware has been the best past rusher in football over the last decade, and even he hasn't been enough to make our defense dominant. Making a defense better has to be about shoring up weaknesses. On this defense I would argue that the whole defensive line is a major area of weakness, so you take whoever the best defensive lineman is you can get your grubby little mitts on.

Agreed, you need a mix of good players at all levels of the defense.

 

[yentl911]

Detroit has been a one trick pony IMO. Great DT's and one real weapon on Offense - Megatron. They are pretty limited all around talent wise I think. A bunch of top 1st round busts. The DT's were really the only reason they were competitive IMO. Plus, Fairley is just starting to come into his own.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

How bout LDE - Ford, DT Jernigan, DT Crawford, RDE - Ware with bass, selvie and Jeffcoat as primary backups.

If we could Jernigan in the 1st and Ford in the 2nd, I'd be absolutely fine with that. I don't see that happening. I don't even see Jernigan falling to us. Some boards have him as a top 5-6 overall player. And Ford has been shooting up the charts. But if we could somehow get both of them, I'd be all for it.

 

[cowboys1981]

They also make a lot of mistakes with TO's on offense; setting up short fields.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

People claim that the talent level in Dallas is overrated. You can say the same thing about Detroit. I've been hearing how talented they are for two decades. Even 0-16 was blamed on the coach. At some point you have to look at the players. Maybe they're not that great.

 

[IrishAnto]

Defense is a group effort. One or two dominant players cannot make a defense good against a modern NFL offense without help. The days of single defenders dominating an offense are over. Ware has been the best past rusher in football over the last decade, and even he hasn't been enough to make our defense dominant. Making a defense better has to be about shoring up weaknesses. On this defense I would argue that the whole defensive line is a major area of weakness, so you take whoever the best defensive lineman is you can get your grubby little mitts on.

I agree.

Most people seem to think that sacks/QB pressure is a panacea for all defensive woes but in many cases it isn’t.

Look at the 2008 Boys defense as an example.

59 sacks but hardly a dominant defense and despite having four 1st round picks in the secondary they only had 8 interceptions all year.

All defenses will have weaknesses, but a good defneses will have sufficient playmakers and scheme to mask those weaknesses.

Quite obviously the Cowboys have had neither for quite a while now.

Time will tell if this is changing.

 

[casmith07]

Since Fairley and Suh have played together and formed best DT duo in terms of pressuring QB, Lions have ranked 16, 13 and 23 in defense.

So is their secondary THAT bad or is there some other factor because everyone here wants 2 dominant DT and assume all will be well.

Perhaps it's not the best DT which matter but the best DE duo which contains the pocket and doesn't allow things to spill outside.

Would this change who you target? Maybe higher emphasis on Dee Ford and a 3rd or 4th on Jeffcoat.

Average secondary, average to below average linebacking corps.

 

[burmafrd]

A great pass rush with a mediocre secondary will get you farther then a great secondary with no pass rush-but it will not get you all that far in the playoffs. Yyou need at least decent players in the secondary if you have a great pass rush; and you need a decent pass rush if you have a great secondary.

 

[casmith07]

A great pass rush with a mediocre secondary will get you farther then a great secondary with no pass rush-but it will not get you all that far in the playoffs. Yyou need at least decent players in the secondary if you have a great pass rush; and you need a decent pass rush if you have a great secondary.

Detroit honestly had just a decent pass rush, too. Fairley and Suh are great players, but the rest of that front 7 is below average. Their secondary has no notable names.

 

[JBS]

Yeah. Outside of suh and fairley everyone else is below average.

They only had a rookie DE come in and have 8 sacks...

Oh wait

 

[JBS]

Tulloch is also a pretty good LB.

But that still isn't enough

 

[StarBoyz83]

Average secondary, is average to below average linebacking corps.

Thats whats troubling about dallas. We all know dallas needs pretty much a whole new dl. But their fs's are below average and ss Is average. On db is average or below with 2 above average dbs. Lee is way above average but misses half the season and all other lbs we have are below average. Dl wont fix everything but itll sure help these guys out. Plus a new dc next year should help.

 

[DoctorChicken]

Detroit's secondary is pretty suckish, for one thing. And the offense turns the ball over a lot, so the defense has trouble getting off the field.