Detroit Lions: Talent Wins Championships

Props to my fellow writer Ed Worvie for his well written article Detroit Lions Must Remember Defense Wins Championships. While there are some elements of truth to what he says, it can’t be all about the defense.

In the glory days of Vince Lombardi and Paul Brown, defense may have been a more important factor of winning championships. But that trend has long since been over for a while.

Super Bowl XLII proved that as Kurt Warner absolutely shredded the number one rated Pittsburgh defense by throwing for 344 yards and three touchdowns.

Granted, the rushing game of the Cardinals was weak but it never was an element of the game they relied on during the season. In fact, it wasn’t until the playoffs that the Cardinal rushing attack finally got any attention.

But the Pittsburgh defense is geared to stop the run and they did so, only to unleash the strongest part of the Arizona offense in the second half. And the Arizona defense did very well in shutting down the Pittsburgh running game and forcing Roethlisberger to throw.

But the tactic backfired and Roethlisberger met the challenge by scoring with 35 seconds on the clock.

That is one example. I will concede that defense is an important element but just as equally important is the offense. 

But even more important as to what true element does win championships is controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball:  TALENT!

Since there are many proponents on the defensive side of the ball, I consider stopping the run and preventing big plays as the two most vital components for a successful defense. However, as obvious as that may sound, there are a myriad of ways to achieve them:

Every NFL team is using a variation of either a 3-4 (three defensive lineman and four linebackers) or 4-3 (four defensive lineman and three linebackers) and in each defensive set, use four players in the secondary, two cornerbacks, and two safeties. 

Of these defenses, we can break it out into to camps: 

• Read and React – Players will look for certain keys in the offense as the play unfolds. Keys can be anything from who an offensive lineman blocks to where the quarterback takes the first step.  The defense will then react to what the offense is doing. This is basically a “bend but don’t break” defense, designed to give up little bits of ground while forcing the offense to run a lot of time consuming plays and hope for a mistake while limiting the number of big plays.

• Aggressive – This type of defense doesn’t take a wait and see approach to stopping an offense. The defense pick attack points in areas of weakness on the offense and attempt to disrupt the flow of the offense before the play can develop. It attempts to control the game rather than allowing the opposing offense to control it.

• Cover Two – Can be used in either Read and React or an Aggressive style of defense but is more often used in a Read and React. In simple terms, in the Cover Two, both safeties take free safety responsibilities with each covering half of the field while the corners play more aggressively underneath in an attempt to alter wide receiver routes.  

In each of these defenses, the drafting team must draft to the strength of the style of the defense. It would make no sense to draft a 350 lbs. nose tackle if you are running a base 4-3 defense. Better to draft lightning quick defensive ends and run stuffing defensive tackles.  

Now on to the offense. Ideally, a football team wants a blend of run and pass.  However, talent may dictate which option a team will rely more on, run or pass.

• West Coast Offense – a ball control offense using the passing game.  In essence, this style of ball control offense, with talented players, can shred just about any type of defense out there. It relies on the 5 to 10 yard passes and relies on the receivers speed. It gets the ball into players hands faster and creates mismatches such as running back/linebacker or tight end/linebacker. It can also force tighter coverage between the safeties and receivers, forcing the safeties to come up and allow bigger plays on shorter passes.

• Smash Mouth Offense – relies more on the running game to control the clock. It mainly uses the I-Formation with blocking by tight ends and receivers. It can lull a defense with the big play if the secondary is attempting to cheat by coming up to the line. Big receivers can get behind the secondary and provided the ball is thrown well, it’s off to the races.

• Vertical offense – Combination of power running and deep passing.  All five receivers go out in patterns designed to stretch the defense with the quarterback throwing to spots rather than leading the receiver. Since both the quarterback and receiver know where the ball is supposed to be, it gives an advantage over defenses that have to guess and react to each play. And by stretching the defense, a running play or screen pass can allow a running back to bust off a huge gain.

Again, as with the defense, players need to be drafted to fit a system. You aren’t going to go after a big, physical receiver if you are running a West Coast offense which relies more on speed that physicality.

The Lions must remember to draft to their strengths or what their strengths are going to be. Whichever defense and offense they are going to run, talent is the key but it has to be the “right” kind of talent, suited to the offensive and defensive philosophies being used.