Detroit Lions: Despite appearances, defense is not dead yet

The NFL wants to be an offensive league. Just look at the rules. High flying offenses are nurtured by stifling rules that don’t allow defenses to do almost anything synonymous with the hard hitting history of the game.

Plain and simple offenses are dealt nothing but aces while defenses have to settle on a diet of deuces and the occasional five or six. It’s not even close to fair.

Some rules which are for player safety, like targeting, can’t be argued. However the vast majority of the rules the NFL has instituted over the last few decades are for one purpose and one purpose only; to promote scoring.

In a league of millionaires that is run by billionaires, ticket sales and viewership are often tied to the desire to see points put on the board. No one seems to like a good old fashioned defensive struggle anymore.

Think about it, where have the Steel Curtain, Doomsday Defense, Purple People-Eaters, Fearsome Foursome and even Detroit’s own Silver Rush gone?

But here’s the thing the NFL wants to ignore; is the thrill of a defense ransacking the pocket like a title wave and swarming under some hapless quarterback any less exciting than a long touchdown run? What about a big hit that drops a ball-carrier just shy of a first down? Or even an amazing interception that turns the tide of a game?

Sure no wants to see these things happen to their favorite team, but they certainly like seeing their own defense come up with those types of plays every bit as much as incredible scoring plays.

But offense sells tickets and the NFL wants those sales. They want those viewers to tune in to see their product. Then when the public goes abuzz because of games like the Rams vs the Chiefs Monday Night shootout or even the week six high scoring meeting between the Chiefs and Patriots, it only furthers the agenda.

Now I get that a 3-0 final score sounds like a pretty boring game, and chances are pretty good that it would be, but the reason there is such a thing as defense is to give the opposition an obstacle that they must find a way to navigate through to put points on the board.

Today’s offenses are actually about as potent as they ever have been in the NFL, and with that in mind; do they really need such an overwhelming advantage?