For the Detroit Lions was the win in Tampa really a win?

Now there tends to be very little that we can learn from the preseason, but when your top defensive unit can’t stop a third string quarterback, who by the way completed every pass he attempted in that drive, then this would have to  be considered a red flag.

Sure the Lions defenders are in the process of trying to learn this new defensive scheme, but when the second stringers came in for the next defensive series they shut Griffin down.

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We are still two weeks away from opening the season against the New York Jets on Monday Night Football and there are still plenty of concerns about this defense.

The Lions starting front seven were unable to dominate a Buccaneers offensive line that was missing three starters. Perhaps we should let that sink in. Toss in poor tackling, lack of discipline and difficulty covering the Tampa receivers and we need to see it for what it was; a poor showing in the game that is most supposed to represent regular season play.

For three straight exhibition games, we have listened to Matt Patricia talk about being unhappy with his teams performance. For three straight weeks we have heard him say that the coaches need to do a better job.

What he hasn’t done is toss any of his players under the bus. This is a trait players appreciate. Yet they shouldn’t be let off the hook.

Great coaches are great because they have players that make plays. It’s almost that simple. Yes, great coaches deserve credit for schemes, the ability to motivate their players and for putting them in a position to succeed.

Matt Patricia has admitted to putting his players in many situations during the preseason so far to see how they do. Yet the thing that stands out the most about the defense is how undisciplined they have been. They don’t carry out their assignments well and have very rarely, since teams do little scheming during the exhibition season, just won their match-ups.

For all the excitement that the city of Detroit has had about the Lions, this team will go nowhere if they can’t play good defense.

They should certainly be better when they are game planning for opponents and actually using different coverages and exotic blitz packages, but they will still need to execute the fundamentals of playing defense to be successful.

Otherwise all the game planning in the world won’t matter.