Lions vs Saints: Detroit Won't Compete with NFL's Elite Until Secondary Improves

The Detroit Lions have a roster loaded with young talent, but until their pass coverage improves, they will be doomed to more early playoff exits.

With Ndamukong Suh, Cliff Avril and Kyle Vanden Bosch, the Lions have one of the most vicious pass rushing corps in the league. If they can upgrade their secondary, their defense will be one of the best in the NFL.

Until then, they will continue to get shredded by opposing quarterbacks.

In the regular season, the Lions ranked 22nd in opponents' passing yards (239.4 per game) and passing touchdowns allowed (26).

In their regular season finale, they made Packers backup QB Matt Flynn a rich, rich man. The free agent-to-be set Green Bay records by throwing for 480 yards and six touchdowns.

That game was an ominous sign heading into their first-round matchup against Drew Brees. The prolific quarterback lit up Detroit for 466 yards and three touchdowns while completing 33-of-43 passes.

For those of you without calculators, that means the Lions gave up 946 passing yards and nine passing touchdowns in their final two games.

Those numbers would be terrible if we were talking about a three-game stretch. Over two games, that's beyond awful.

Detroit has one of the brightest futures in the NFL, but it will be squandered if they don't improve their secondary.

Elite NFC quarterbacks like Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Eli Manning aren't going anywhere. And if Jay Cutler gets another weapon in Chicago, the Lions will have to compete with another top-notch passing attack in their own division.

After a decade of obscurity, the Lions are certainly headed in the right direction. However, until they upgrade their secondary, they won't be able to hang with the NFL's best.