SideLion Report » 2010 » December » 09

Breaking Down the Packers Defense

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:14:01 +0000

This week, the Lions will go up the Green Bay Packers, who had the second best defense in the NFL last year, and the best defense in the NFC. As usual, a lot of their success on defense can be attributed to their defensive coordination Dom Capers, who in my mind doesn’t get enough credit as a coach.

He started his professional coaching career with the New Orleans Saints in 1986, and was their defensive backs coach until 1992, when he was hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers as their defensive coordinator. It was during his years with Pittsburgh that began the Steel Curtain era, and he gave the right type of players to future defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau to develop the zone blitz scheme (which Capers also runs). After his stint with the Steelers, Capers went on to be the head coach of two expansion franchises in Carolina and Houston, and was relatively successful with both of them.

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Detroit Lions Thursday Injury Report

Zac Snyder — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 23:06:37 +0000

Four Lions did not practice today just one day after the team put Alphonso Smith and Kyle Vanden Bosch on injured reserve. Matthew Stafford did some light throwing yesterday but was a no-show today. Fellow quarterback Shaun Hill also did not participate in any capacity. Gosder Cherilus and Derrick Williams round out the list of [...]

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Evaluating Detroit Lions Progress by Offensive and Defensive Rankings

Zac Snyder — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 15:13:41 +0000

Yesterday, I tried to quantify the progress the Lions have made this year and discussed whether or not it is relevant. I suggest giving it a read if you missed it since this post will hit on a lot of the same thoughts.

Today’s analysis will focus more on the team’s statistical performance rather than game result and margin approach presented yesterday. Are the Lions really making progress? And more importantly, does it matter?

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