Everything John Harbaugh Said About Detroit Lions

Here is what Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said about the Detroit Lions, when he addressed the media on Thursday.

As you mentioned with the Detroit Lions, their offense put up 52 points last week. What do you feel are the keys to try and slow them down?

“Well, first of all, (the Detroit Lions) have a nice system. They've been running it for a few years now. Johnnie Morton, their new offensive coordinator, has been there, (he) took it over and has been around for a long time. It seems like he has his fingerprints on it as well, but it is along the same line, so they've got continuity and then a lot of good players; [they have] a lot of good players who are playing well.”

What does Detroit do well to stress defenders in the middle of the field on offense?

“Yes, (the Detroit Lions) do. They throw the ball in the middle of the field a bunch. That's kind of their thing; it's (in the) middle of the field, crossing routes, in-breaking routes, high-low kind of combos when they drop back, a lot of play-action pass. It's a rhythm play-action passing attack. (Jared Goff) kind of gets it out on time, but it's not a ball out immediately because it's off a play action, and it's all set up by a really good run game with two really good backs and a good offensive line. So, they have a lot of good ideas in there, but you get those linebackers, people playing up a little bit for the run and then you throw it in behind them, basically. It's good stuff.”

Going back to that game against the Detroit Lions in 2023, do you see a lot of similarities with the team that they have this year compared to that game or no?

“Yes, there's a lot of similarities. It's the same head coach and they have the same kind of philosophy on both sides of the ball. The schemes are similar but they're not the same. We're not the same. You go back and you watch the games, and there's a lot of things that look the same, and there's a lot of things that look different. It was two years ago, so it's been a while.”

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Two years ago, you talked post-game after that Detroit Lions game about how they were trying to cage rush you guys, and you guys did a really good job of keeping QB Lamar Jackson safe, and he was only hit once. It looks like, so far, they're not really trying to turn the corner too much. Is there anything that's maybe different or that the average fan wouldn't be able to tell about about what makes a cage rush difficult to stop when it's being executed well?

“It depends how physical (the cage rush) is. If it's physical, and it collapses the pocket, then it's a challenge. If it doesn't collapse the pocket, then it's not a problem. So, I think they have some physical rushers. They got No. 97 (Aidan Hutchinson). He's pretty good to say the least. No. 92 (Marcus Davenport), he's really good, too. So, they have two strong guys off the edge, and their inside guys are powerful inside guys. We have to make sure that the pocket doesn't get collapsed. But I don't expect them to strictly do that. They bring a lot of blitzes, especially on third-and-medium, and then on our first and second down, they'll bring the run blitzes, and they have good rushers. So, we're going to have our hands full, but we're capable of it. We just have to do a good job.”

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