DT Corey Williams' Penchant For Road Sacks Vital To 2010 Detroit Lions

With the “NFC Norris Arms Race” entering its second season (provided Favre returns to the Vikings, which I believe will happen, later rather than sooner), and the once run-first offenses giving way to the new-era NFL passing league (“air Coryell” would have been proud, as June Jones must strangely be as well), rushing the passer has never been at more of a premium.  To that end, Lions General Manager Martin Mayhew and Head Coach Jim Schwartz acquired Corey Williams to help retool the Lions moribund defensive line.

It has been well stated that Williams’s best days were played as a member of the despised Green Bay Packers, where he totaled 14 sacks during the 2006 and 2007 seasons.  The question really is that of the contribution margin that his production added to his team’s success, the results of which are a little surprising.

While completing my capstone coursework, I had a professor who insisted we do the “deep dive” and get “the numbers behind the numbers”.  What is the relevance?  What do we see and why is that the result?  Put out the flag; it’s time to dive with Corey Williams.

As mentioned, Corey enjoyed a seven-sack season (I know somebody out there is having a Cindy Brady flashback courtesy of the evil mastermind Sherwood Schwartz) in 2006, and I was at Ford Field to take in yet another pummeling at the hands of Brett Favre.  Corey started 11 of 16 regular-season games for the Pack, of which, the Lions home game was not one.  He was credited for two sacks against the Lions in Detroit and another sack against the Lions at Lambeau.  Three out of seven 2006 sacks came against the Lions.  Three more came in the Packers loss against the Bills in Orchard Park, New York.  Williams’ other sack came on the last game of the season, a Packers victory over da Bears at Soldier Field.

Six out of seven of Corey Williams’ 2006 sacks came during road games.  For the Detroit Lions and the club’s fans, that kind of production would be huge.  What’s more, it’s good to see sacks against your division rival, even if at the time it happened to be the Detroit Lions offensive line (against which three of seven 2006 sacks were tallied).  Do the three sacks against Detroit coupled with the three sacks in a losing road effort against the Bills leave a little to be desired?  Do you feel kind of left wanting now that we’ve identified the competition against whom the statistic was achieved?  Let’s check out 2007.

In looking at Corey Williams' 2007 achievements, I like the balance a little bit more and find a positive in that he maintained his sack production despite starting only nine of 16 regular-season contests.  Williams started out the season with a sack in each of the first two games, at home win against Philadelphia, and a road shellacking of the eventual Super Bowl Champions, the NY Giants.  And then silence.

In November 2007, Corey Williams added two sacks in a road win at Arrowhead Stadium, two more sacks in a home win over the Panthers, and a Thanksgiving Day sack, his last of the season, against the Lions, for a total of five during the month and seven on the year.

Although Corey wasn’t credited with another sack during the remainder of the regular season and had no sack production during his two 2007 season playoff starts, his presence cannot be measured simply in terms of sacks, as we know a 4-3 DT is but one piece on the field of play.  Corey saved his best game for last with a nine-tackle performance in a losing effort against the Giants on a cold night at Lambeau Field.  Two weeks later the Giants defensive line went out and smacked Tom Brady in the mouth for four quarters and became Super Bowl Champions.

What we see is that Corey’s production has come in bunches and there can be several-game draughts where the credit of a sack is not found.  Again, as we know, the “sack” statistic is one of the less meaningful stats we collect due to the forces of multifactorial interdependence under which the “sack” occurs.  How does one equate the “garbage time” sack stat into the mix as well?  In Lions language, that means the other team gets a sack as a result of the opponent being able to tee off with their pass rush as they have complete control of both the scoreboard and the down and distance factor.  You know, those “math” not “magic” moments?  Yes.  Those.

The other thing I like about Corey’s 2007 production is that only one of his sacks came against the Lions.  Still no sacks against the Vikings during two seasons (0 for 4).  Sacks against the Lions in three of four contests.  No sacks against Chicago during 2007, so only one sack in four games over those two seasons.  It’s nice to get production, especially on the road, against your divisional opponents.  In one season his seven sacks helped his team to a .500 record and no playoffs.  The next season, the same seven sacks helped his team within a field goal of the Super Bowl.

Corey Williams had back-to-back seven-sack seasons during his third and fourth seasons in the NFL.  He has spent the past two seasons on a Cleveland 3-4 defense that did not made application of the highest-and-best use of Corey Williams’ particular skill set.  Coach Schwartz’ defensive line philosophy will be for the linemen to rush the passer enroute to playing the run.  “We’re going to play the run while we’re on the way to rushing the passer,” is the mentality, and the purpose for which Williams was acquired by the Lions front office.  They added one new piece of many, as the 2010 Detroit Lions defensive line at the moment appears to be LDE Cliff Avril, Ndamukong Suh and Corey Williams (with Sammie Lee Hill right in there) at DT, and Kyle Vanden Bosch at RDE.  The Lions would have a blend of youth and veterans, but would have no continuity as these players have as of yet to take a single NFL snap together as a defensive unit.

Regardless the win-loss outcome of the Detroit Lions 2010 season, I’m excited to see the front office spent quality resources to make a serious effort to improve what has been the NFL’s laughing-stock defense for the past four seasons.  Talent is being assembled and groomed to compete in an ever-evolving league, and I would like to see the Lions defense return to the days when the Lions had a reputation as a tough-nosed, hard-hitting defense, where win or lose, the fans could be proud of the “Fearsome Foursome” or the “Silver Rush”.  The last “really good” defense the Lions had was the 1993 squad (Spielman, Ball, Blades) that finished with the 6th-best overall NFL defense.  It’s been that long.

While I expect the Lions to be an improved defensive team during the 2010 season, I don’t expect to see a vivid expression of prospective improvement in the win column.  I have patience for another season where the young men assembled learn to play together; as, after all, this is merely the beginning of the season after the conclusion of the Lions two-season expansion draft.  The Allen Park housecleaning party has been an active process since the day Martin Mayhew was promoted to GM, and shall continue in earnest for yet another season.

The Lions have their “sophomores” and “freshman” and smattering of upperclassmen gathered to play against the rest of the tenured squads in the league.  We’re “growing strawberries from seed” in Detroit, so this thing is going to take some time before the harvest.  Patience is required for yet another season.

I expect Corey Williams to become an important part of the Lions solution to generating an effective pass rush during the 2010 campaign.  I also expect that those lined up to his right and left flanks, as well as the linebacker corps and defensive secondary, to benefit for Corey’s play in 2010.  I believe that Corey can immediately return to the six-to-eight sack range and add a presence that will allow ends Cliff Avril and Kyle Vanden Bosch to see their production increase as well.  A commanding pass rush from Detroit’s defensive line could go a long way in helping Louis Delmas with the mess he has to untangle with three new additions again in 2010.

A sack of Cutler at Soldier Field to open the Lions season on the road would be well received all the way around.  A collection of Cutler sacks leading to a Detroit road victory over da Bears would send the fans of Motown into a serious bender on kool-aide and cornbread (the Lions faithful “communion elements”)!