Lions Could 'Blitz Like Crazy' on Third Down

Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn worked under Dennis Allen during his tenure with the New Orleans Saints.

Author:
John Maakaron
Updated:
Jun 16, 2021 9:14 AM EDT
Original:
Jun 16, 2021

With the addition of new defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, the hope is that the Detroit Lions' defense will finally turn the corner and become more of an asset than liability.

"(Aaron) Glenn and I were watching it the other day, and there was enough stuff to where, man, why are they playing slow?", Campbell told the The Detroit News. "This is a much better athlete, he should be playing faster. It just looks like there's indecision. It looks like they're timid. They look like they had lacked confidence. I'm just talking about the players that were here."

Since 2019, the Lions' secondary has lined up in man-to-man coverage on 43 percent of snaps, the highest rate in the National Football League.

Former Lions head coach Matt Patricia's heavy man-coverage never gained traction, and resulted in one of the worst defensive seasons in the organization's history.

According to Pro Football Focus, "In his first stint as a DC, new defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn will come at offenses from the other side of the spectrum. Glenn will certainly play man coverage, but working under Dennis Allen in New Orleans, he ran multiple coverages with a lot of two-high pre-snap looks. And if he’s anything like Allen, he will blitz like crazy on third down."