Detroit Lions: How much will the defense actually improve?
It’s never easy changing coaches and schemes. There is little doubt the Detroit Lions will get challenged defensively in 2018.
Many fans were thrilled when the Detroit Lions made Matt Patricia the head coach. His intelligence and success are through the roof, but most importantly, he’s a proven winner.
Where things get thrown for a loop is the new defensive coordinator brought along by the former leader of the New England Patriots’ defense. If you’re not familiar with Paul Pasqualoni, don’t be alarmed. His most recent stop was with Boston College, serving as the defensive line coach.
The new defensive coordinator doesn’t have a poor resume or limited success by any means. Uninspiring is the best way to describe the hiring. It’s been ten seasons since he’s held the title of defensive coordinator.
Patricia, along with three other coaches brought along by the new head coach himself, were all under Pasqualoni when he was the head coach at Syracuse University. Familiarity with one another and mutual understanding will serve them well.
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I hate to sound dismissive of the accomplishments by Detroit’s new assistants, but I’m concerned. Instead of hiring more qualified candidates, it appears Patricia was just playing favorites and returning favors. That could come back to haunt the Lions.
Scheme change also scares me. Although the multiple systems aren’t terribly difficult to learn, it’s still new. Bumps in the road come with the territory of transitioning from one philosophy to another.
Former defensive coordinator Teryl Austin was no slouch at his job. Under his leadership in 2017, the Lions had the third most turnovers forced and combined defensive/special teams touchdowns. There’s more to live up to than most people realize.
From a personnel standpoint, the front seven is underwhelming. The new regime is really banking on the scheme coming through to produce more pressure. That’s a huge gamble in the first year.
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Detroit most likely improves in the sack department as well as points yielded and total defense because that’s the expectation. Struggles are imminent, but it remains very optimistic that things will improve in many ways for the Lions’ new defense.