Detroit Lions: Could Snacks give the defense a tummy ache?
By Robert Jones
Despite Matt Patricia’s pedigree as the Patriots defensive coordinator, his defense in Detroit didn’t set the world on fire at first. As a matter of fact, they often seemed to be handing out the matches to their opponents who in turn burned the Lions beyond recognition.
The players simply seemed to be unable or unwilling to figure out Patricia’s complex defense and play it the way it was meant to be played. Mental mistakes abounded and the shortage of players that actually fit Patricia’s scheme really hurt.
Then on October 24th, general manager Bob Quinn traded a fifth-round draft pick to the New York Giants in exchange for Damon ‘Snacks’ Harrison at gunpoint. Or at least one would think there must have been some form of violent threat for the Giants to give up one of the premiere nose-tackles in the NFL for such a small price.
One way or another ‘Snacks’ was exactly what Patricia was looking for to turn around his defense and the addition of Harrison did just that. And while Harrison can certainly claim much of the credit for it, we should also understand that it was a team effort.
‘Snacks’ new teammates started to figure out how to play this new intricate defense and it showed in the form of more disciplined play. The unit started to trust each other to do their jobs while also fulfilling their own assignments. Then the benefits came rolling in.
Again this isn’t to diminish what Harrison brought to the team, because having an immovable object in the middle of Patricia’s defense is sort of the starting point of how it is played successfully. So he deserves all the credit he has gotten, but everyone else getting on the same page only made it better.
By the end of the season, their defense that started off as a complete flop turned into the 10th ranked overall unit in the NFL. Running on them was next to impossible and the pass defense was mostly passable, if you will.
A better pass rush and personnel upgrade in the secondary were all that stood between the Lions and some really, really good defense. But Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia think they have found those answers this offseason.