Glover Quin Expertly Identifies Issues with Lions' Defense
Former Detroit Lions safety Glover Quin understands what an elite NFL defense looks like.
In 2014, Detroit's defense finished second overall in the NFL in total defense.
Recall, Detroit's defense only gave up an average of 17.6 points per game, as well as 69.3 rushing yards and 300.9 total yards per game that season.
Against the Seahawks, Detroit's defensive line did not garner enough pressure, and the secondary was not able to contain the wideouts and tight ends of Pete Carroll's squad.
The offense also put the defense in precarious situations, as Dan Campbell continued to be aggressive by going for it on fourth down.
Quin, appearing on "Woodward Heavyweights," explained what his early impressions were of Aaron Glenn's defense.
"My thing is it's those drives in the fourth quarter, in the second half, where it's like third down and you can't get a stop," said Quin. "And, it seemed like they're just converting and converting, and they go down there and score. So then, that forces you to have to try to make a play. ... But, it seemed like Geno (Smith) has a career game every time he plays against us. And, that happens sometimes -- just sometimes, certain players and teams just have your number."
Detroit's defense has now also lost a couple of key contributors. James Houston and C.J. Gardner-Johnson are going to miss several weeks of action.
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"You got to get pressure on the quarterback, and you got to create turnovers," said Quin. "You got to figure out a way to get the ball. Losing him (Gardner-Johnson) is going to hurt tremendously. Losing James Houston, that's going to hurt, you know. So, they got to figure some stuff out. I don't really know exactly what they want to be on defense. Are they a man team that just blitzes or are they a zone team that plays? Are they like a quarters team? I don't really know what they want to be defensively."
Supporters have wondered why the defensive line has not been utilizing more complex blitzes, adjustments or exotic looks to aid in the pass-rush department.
Quin provided insights into the challenges that Detroit's coaching staff has due to the lack of a traditional lockdown cornerback.
"A lot of times when you want to run a complex system and be able to mix things up on the front seven, you got to have good secondary play. Every year, you know, it's been Jeff Okudah. Okudah gets hurt. Tracy Walker. Walker gets hurt. They haven't really had, ever since Slay left, they haven't really had that corner that could just man a guy up or lock up a side, healthy safeties and playmaker guys that allow you to be able to do more things up front, complexity wise," Quin added.
"So, if you don't feel you have those things on the back-end, it limits what you want to do on the front, because you don't want to leave those guys out to dry. So, I think he's kind of getting caught in the middle."
