Lions vs Giants Pregame Week-6

All the talk seems to be about the Giants great defensive line. How it had 10 sacks in one game and 13 over the last two. Many have said they think the Lions are in trouble because the quarterbacks will be scrambling for their life all day with the Lions offensive line being so bad. Let me set a few things straight.

First off, the Lions offensive line is not nearly as bad as its reputation. Last year they were horrible. The year before that and before that they were terrible, horrid, dismal, putrid... all those names work fine. This year however, they are not nearly so bad.

A common belief has been that Jeff Backus sucked at Left Tackle and Dominic Raiola was bad at Center. There was an on going debate on whether the problem was that Backus was so horrible or that he and Raiola were compensating for the lack of productivity at left guard. I have argued on Backus' behalf countless times on this subject. Then the first game came along and Backus whiffed on a block that lead to Matthew Stafford being sacked and injured. The cries went out again for Backus' job if not his head.

After five games into the season, the Lions have given up a total of 9 sacks. That is less than 2 sacks a game. That first game was the only game in which they allowed more sacks than the team they played has averaged so far this season. In Green Bay the Lions allowed their worst, 3 sacks, of the season. Green Bay has averaged 4.2 sacks a game so far. That means in the Packers other 4 games they have had 18 sacks. An average of 4.5 sacks. So the fact the Lions only allowed 3 is a good showing by the offensive line. So the Detroit Lions offensive line has been playing very well in pass protection this year.

As for the Giants defensive line, I don't think it is quite as good as the media makes it out to be. The fact is, any team can have a good game and any team can have one of those games where they cant do anything right. That ten sack game for the Giants was both of those. The Giants came in strong and the Bears offensive line just couldn't do anything right that day. Keep in mind that if you take that one big game away, the Giants have a total of 9 sacks in the other 4 games. That is only a 2.25 sacks per game average. That is okay but it is nothing special.

Don't get me wrong. I am not saying the Giants defensive line is not a good one. They did get ten sacks in one game and however well things fall into place, you have to still be good to get that. What I am saying is that if you look at the whole picture, rather than just the 10 sack game, the Giants defensive line is only good. Not a great powerhouse line that every team should be in awe of. It would also do some good to remember the Lions have a good defensive line of their own.

What I have come to start dubbing them as the Wrecking Crew, the Lions defensive line is one of the better ones in the NFL. The rookie, Ndamukong Suh, and his veteran partner, Corey Williams, are possibly the best defensive tackle tandem in the NFL. Both have consistently created havoc in the back field of opposing teams each week. They are powerful and explosive, forcing teams to worry about them on every play. Kyle Vanden Busch has been a monster in his own right thus far in the season. Every game he is pressuring the quarterback and often he makes tackles after getting up from the ground and hustling after the ball when most players would have given up. With Sammie Hill, Cliff Avril, Lawrence Jackson and Turk McBride also adding their high octane play, the Wrecking Crew is one to give the Lions a chance each and every week.

The Lions have given up the same amount of sacks as the Giants have given up. Both teams have allowed 9 sacks. The Giants defense has 5 more sacks than the Lions defense has, but if you take away the one big game the Lions defense has been wracking them up just as well.

Both Shaun Hill of the Lions and Eli Manning of the Giants have 8 touchdowns a piece. Eli has one more interception with 8 compared to Hill's 7 picks.

The Giants are 3-1 and though the Lions are 1-4, with a couple of bad calls at critical times in the game called right, the Lions could easily be 3-2 as well.

This game will come down to which quarterback makes the most mistakes and which team has the most penalties. This game very well could come down to whether Calvin Johnson is healthy enough to not only play but contribute. This game could come down to whether the Lions coaches will be aggressive on another team's turf or whether they fall into the conservative approach again.

If the Lions are healthy and the coaches call the game aggressively, I can see the Lions winning this one by a field goal. I also think that might be asking too much.

New York Giants - 24
Detroit Lions - 17

Lions Defense; Is It Aggressive Enough?

The Detroit Lions defense is as good as it has been and better since the turn of the century. In 5 weeks it has accumulated 14 sacks and 7 interceptions. In a 16 game season that would work out to be 44 sacks and 22 interceptions. That is 6 sacks more than their best season in the last decade and only once have they had more interceptions. In 2000 they had 25. The question is, are they being aggressive enough?

The Lions have the 6th most sacks in the NFL right now with 14 total sacks. But of those 14 sacks, 11 of them have come from their defensive line. Two sacks have been wracked up by defensive backs, leaving the linebackers with only 1 sack. Think about that. 79% of their sacks were by their defensive linemen. Of the top 8 teams in sacks, only one team has a higher ratio than the Detroit Lions. 87% of the Eagles 15 sacks have come via the defensive line. Now you can choose to look at that and see how good the Lions defensive line is, but it makes me wonder just how many sacks the Lions would have if they were more aggressive.

Look at the Chargers for instance. San Diego has 18 sacks after five games. Only 3 have come from their defensive line. That means that the linebackers and defensive backs have accumulated 83% of the teams sacks. Imagine if they had the Lions defensive line. Talk about a team that would be laying the pressure on opposing quarterbacks! Now some might say that if the Chargers had the Lions defensive line, that they would not need to blitz so much. My question is, why wouldn't they want more sacks? Every time you put the quarterback on hi back, it is one less time he is throwing down field. The last time I checked, there are greater that he will complete a pass throwing into double coverage than he will when he is sacked.

In my humble opinion, it is nearly a crime that after 5 games, the Lions back 7 defensive players have only 3 total sacks. Of the top 8 teams in the NFL in sacks, only the Eagles are worse in that category. Their back 7 have only 2 sacks. The next closest to the Lions is Tennessee. They have 5 sacks by their back seven.

Julian Peterson is supposed to be a good linebacker for chasing down quarterbacks. Zack Follett is supposed to have the speed to do so. So why are they not doing so? As good as the Lions defensive line is, when they send an extra man, there should be no reason he shouldn't get a hurry on the quarterback if not a hit or sack. The more you pressure a quarterback, the more often he will hurry his throws. The more he hurries his passing, the better chance of an interception.

Yet when all is said and done, the Lions defense is playing well. At the Detroit Lions current pace, they will have 44 sacks and 22 interceptions. In recent years, those numbers would rank approximately 5th best in the NFL in each category. Which is a far cry from the league worst defense the Lions have displayed in recent seasons huh?