Biggest disappointment

[zyxt9]

I'm going with the DL below expectations in pressure and sacks. Sure OCs probably worked on quicker passes, but it sure seemed QBs were able to stand around for 5+ seconds more often than not and this DL was supposed to be able to get to the QB better and that was supposed to help the DBs. Instead the D has been regularly torched. I put the poor DB play and giving up more points on the shoulders of the DL for not getting to the QBs enough. Shoot, I don't think they even knocked a single QB out of a game this year, did they? Really had higher expectations out of that group. Hopefully they show up better in the playoffs!!!

 

[grandy]

The DL's performance is a valid concern...but the penalties this year have put this team in unwanted situations at key times that cost them games.

 

[Monster]

the penalties were bad, but i think the one thing we all KNEW in the preseason was that our D-Line was one of the best in the league....not so.

 

[Mitchrapp]

Its all about the points. Regardless of dline play, CB play, or anything else -- you need to stop them from getting in the end zone.

 

[manchild98]

I thought the DLine would be pretty dominant this year with wreaking constant havoc on QB's. So out of those choices, I have to say the DLine did not perform up to my pre-season expectations.

 

[turok]

Many fans of other teams were calling for the Lions' DL as becoming one of the best, if not the best in the NFL this season, immediately after the team selected Fairley in the draft, from my reading many of their draft-day posts on SB Nation website, so yeah, they were the biggest disappointment overall.

 

[fedexgooch78]

this board is fucking rich. the d-line didn't live up to expectations. only because you fucking thought that they would record what...50 sacks? they did play pretty damn well this year. no matter what, they aren't going to go out and dominate every game, no matter how good they are. sure, suh's numbers were down, but he was being double and triple teamed. which probably is a reason why avril has had a career year. kvb put up decent numbers. the linebackers flourished this year in making plays. this is NOT the group of LB making plays 5+ yds downfield. sure, schematically there were issues, but that's more coaching/playcalling than lack of effort. get your heads out of your asses. these guys played really fucking well.

just look at how many turnovers this team generated. many on strip sacks and interceptions...proof that the D-line was getting the job done.

 

[lions2011]

this board is fucking rich. the d-line didn't live up to expectations. only because you fucking thought that they would record what...50 sacks? they did play pretty damn well this year. no matter what, they aren't going to go out and dominate every game, no matter how good they are. sure, suh's numbers were down, but he was being double and triple teamed. which probably is a reason why avril has had a career year. kvb put up decent numbers. the linebackers flourished this year in making plays. this is NOT the group of LB making plays 5+ yds downfield. sure, schematically there were issues, but that's more coaching/playcalling than lack of effort. get your heads out of your asses. these guys played really fucking well.

just look at how many turnovers this team generated. many on strip sacks and interceptions...proof that the D-line was getting the job done.

I voted for being gassed for more points...does that please you

 

[Thumb]

DB's for me.

I still always feel like we're going to give up a big play every 3rd and long.

 

[golions1989]

You draft Leshoure early to help fix the run game and then he gets injured early in training camp. That was a huge disappointment if you look at this perspective from post draft and free agency. I thought we could have had an average running game, which was more than enough of an upgrade to me. Losing Best hurt even more.

 

[kingofdetroit57]

I went with the run game. I really expected something functional with Best and Leshoure, but both getting hurt with season ending injuries was surprising and disappointing to say the least.

 

[turok]

The Lions' run game wasn't that disappointing to me,b/c I already knew that it wasn't going to be as much of a factor after it was revealed that Leshoure was finished for (at least) the season after ripping up his achilles, and that was even before he set foot on the gridiron for one pre-season game. Injuries happen to every NFL team, and when they occur in areas that decimate their depth or to players that play key roles on offense, they are just more noticeable.

As a matter of fact, I was quite pleasantly surprised when Kevin Smith returned and performed very well, (for a little while, anyway) but he unfortunately has become somewhat unreliable again, and has gradually sustained and accumulated a few too many nagging injuries for him to be able to play continuously and consistently well.

I don't think that the Lions DL has been completely horrid overall, it has just been somewhat disappointing, especially vs the run. The Lions have been fortunate that they haven't faced that many elite RBs, and the Vikes' Peterson was out and injured during their last meeting. But that also falls partly upon their DC, Gunther Cunningham as well.

 

[mhughes0021]

secondary played as bad as i expected....but thats what happens when you have a bunch of scrubs playing back there. There were about 9 or 10 starting cbs on the market this offseason and we signed the bottom of that barrell. Their only hope was the play of the over hyped dline....and they didnt deliver either. QBs had wayyyy to much time, wide 9 sucked in both the pass and the run, and the secondary suffered because of it. Need an elite DE...if we pay a leg and an arm to keep avril itll just be paying too much for mediocrity and in my opinion will be a dumb move.

 

[zoombabyzoom]

Our defense was top 10 in the NFL for sacks this year, only 8 off of the lead. We were also top 3 in Forced Fumbles and #1 in DEF TDs.

Not sure what people want, our defensive line is really good and played really good. They weren't dominant but they aren't a dominant group. Problem with our defense was the penalties and our poor secondary play.

 

[mhughes0021]

Rich what? Richmond![/color]]Our defense was top 10 in the NFL for sacks this year, only 8 off of the lead. We were also top 3 in Forced Fumbles and #1 in DEF TDs.

Not sure what people want, our defensive line is really good and played really good. They weren't dominant but they aren't a dominant group. Problem with our defense was the penalties and our poor secondary play.

any secondary would suffer with how much time opposing qbs have had since the saints game. Im not really blaming the secondary...the dline has been bad at getting pressure.

The only game the secondary shines without the dline pressure was the chargers game....and i still dont understand how the hell that happened lol. Rivers was awful.

 

[zyxt9]

Rivers is not elite, despite the publicity to the contrary. He will never get to the Super Bowl, let alone win one, unless the rest of the team is filled with All-Pros who can deal with his childish behavior. Dude is a total mental case. Some might consider it to be passion to win, but the guy is in need of electroshock therapy at this point.

 

[cmlfactor]

This D gave up MORE points than last year??? Even with Fairley (although he didn't play much) and the Tulloch signing?? This is really a sign that Gunther has to go. There's no WAY this defense shoulda been worse than last year.

 

[baitnbat]

The d line hasnt been getting a lot of pressure because teams are keeping more blockers in and getting the ball out fast

 

[zyxt9]

The d line hasnt been getting a lot of pressure because teams are keeping more blockers in and getting the ball out fast

Well then it seems to me the DL needs to learn how to get themselves into the throwing lanes and get their hands up to swat down those quick throws. How many pass deflections have they had this year? (Honest question cuz I have no clue on this.)

 

[tonyballs]

DLine isn't the issue on this team. It's the defense as a whole that's a problem. They still need another LB (maybe 2), 2-3 DB's and this team "could be" set at "D". Don't even worry about the DLine because it doesn't need to be touched. Worry about your back-end...there in lies the fn problem.

Everybody is too gungho about this DLine making every play on defense. Newsflash!! It's not going to happen. They have played very good this year. They have to concentrate on the back-end. Hey, did i just repeat myself? Oops..sorry, had to say it twice.