Lions Defense Ready for Drew Brees

“He’s not going to know what we are going to do, and I think that gives us an advantage,” Schwartz said. “There’s not tape from last year on this group, and what we did in the preseason is not what we are going to do at the Superdome. He’s not going to be sure what he’s going to be seeing, and that will help us.”

Schwartz went on to talk about how in the preseason, they showed a very vanilla defensive scheme and in the first week they will come and hit Brees with the whole thing.

I look back at the preseason and to be honest, I did not think the defense looked all so bad. There were a few drives where the opposing offenses moved the ball at ease, but there were more drives that the Lions defense either made the other teams punt or kick field goals.

I happen to be a bit of a geek when it comes to the Lions. When I watch the games, I take notes for when I write my article. One thing I have kept track of each game was the blitzing of the Lions defense. In every game, the Lions defense blitzed ten times or more during the first half alone. During those blitzes, only twice did the Lions give up more than three to five yards. Most of the blitzes did a good job of putting pressure on the quarterback or stopping the run. The Lions were not spectacular during the blitzes, but they were pretty decent. Yet they only ran a few man coverage plays, and only showed a few different blitzes.

Forgive me for this moment of dreaming, but wouldn't it be nice to see the Lions go after Brees with a variety of blitzes and actually keep him under pressure on Sunday? Wouldn't it be exciting if the Lions entered the 4th quarter and still in the game? Think about it. If the Lions are still in the game in the fourth quarter, against one of the NFL's most high powered offenses, that would be speaking volumes for how far this Lions defense has come from 2008.

Yet I cannot help but to be worried. In 2008, the Lions blitzed continuously during the preseason and finished 4-0. Yet with all of that success, when the regular season started, the Lions rarely went after the QB with a blitz. Now here we are and the Lions went 3-1 and blitzed a lot. I cannot help but to be worried that come Sunday when the games really count, the Lions will forget how to blitz and go back to the bend but don't break pansy and gutless defensive scheme.

As the first game draws nearer, I cannot help but to wonder. Will Jim Schwartz be a Kitten, or will he be a true Lion? Will he play pansy ball or will he play aggressive NFL style football? I believe this coach will be different than the others. I believe that Schwartz will be a Lion!

Let us pray that I am right.