Detroit Lions' O-Line Coach George Yarno Should Be Sacked

The Sad Facts

The Detroit Lions have gained only 730 yards on the ground in 213 attempts through nine games.

That’s an average of 3.4 yards per carry.

Only the Denver Broncos have a worse yards/carry average, and even they have managed to gain more total yardage on the ground than the Lions have.

Detroit’s offense leads the league in negative yardage rushes to the right side (15), and overall, has the third poorest rushing record in the NFL.

When it comes to protecting the passer, the Lions have allowed their quarterback to get hit 40 times (17th in the NFL), although they have allowed only 15 sacks, currently the seventh best record in that regard in the NFL.

To make matters worse, Detroit’s offense has been penalized for 656 yards, making them the third most penalized offensive unit in yards in the NFL.

Think about that number for a moment.

The Lions offense has given up more than six and a half lengths of a football field in penalties. Then add to that number all of the positive yardage gains nullified by those infractions.

The Last, Wet Straw

During steady rain, when you want to be able to run the ball successfully, especially against the worst run defense in the league, the Lions ran the ball 26 times against the Bills for a total of 76 yards (2.9 yards/carry) and tossed the ball 50 times for a total of 323 yards.

Prior to the fiasco at Buffalo last Sunday, Detroit’s run/pass ration was 65/35.

Despite some fans’ perceptions that the Lions ran the ball more against the Bills than usual (or at least more than they should have), Detroit’s run/pass ratio during this game was 66/34.

The O-line allowed a sack against an injured Shaun Hill and was penalized eight times during this game. Every single member of the offensive line was penalized (Backus twice) including two different tight ends.

When trying to understand why the Lions are 2-7 at this point in the season, it’s easy to recall the missed tackles, blown coverage assignments and stupid penalties the team’s defense has committed.

Those mistakes tend to be spectacular and they stick in your mind.

But the real story behind the Lions’ unfulfilled promise this season is death by a thousand tiny cuts at the hands of Detroit’s offensive line.

And the coach of Detroit’s offensive line is a guy named George Yarno.

The horrible loss to Buffalo, a team that was 0-8 going into the game against the Lions, should be the last straw for Yarno in Detroit.

Chain of Command

An NFL head coach is ultimately responsible for his team’s preparation, performance and win/loss record. Next in the chain of command are the offensive and defensive coordinators. And directly beneath them are position coaches.

Jim Schwartz is a little better than midway through his second season as a first time head coach in the NFL.  He’s won a total of four games so far. Still, it’s a little early to judge how effective he’ll be.

As my B/R colleague Blue in Greer has pointed out in a recent article:

“Through the first 24 games of the [Jimmy] Johnson era, his record was 4-20 while [Bill] Walsh went 5-19. Two Hall of Fame coaches leading two teams of the decades. Maybe there is hope [for Schwartz] after all.”

Schwartz’s first moves as head coach were pretty savvy; he hired very qualified offensive and defensive coordinators.

Scott Linehan had been an offensive coordinator, quarterbacks and wide receivers coach at the college and NFL level before being appointed head coach of the St. Louis Rams for two seasons prior to being hired as the Lions offensive coordinator by Schwartz.

Gun Cunningham’s NFL credentials include nine years as defensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs and two years as the Chiefs’ head coach.

But Schwartz missed the mark by hiring George Yarno, whose claim to fame prior to joining the Lions was that in 2008, he was the assistant offensive line coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Detroit’s Offensive Line Talent

A lot has been written about the current individual starters on the Lions offensive line, much of it critical in nature.

Blind side tackle Jeff Backus doesn’t have many fans in Detroit because the perception is that he doesn’t protect the quarterback well enough and doesn’t run block effectively.

Many think center Dominic Raiola is too small for his position and unable to fend off bull-rushes.  

The rap on third year right tackle Gosder Cherilus is that he’s too inconsistent.

Fans are frustrated at the frequent penalties right guard Stephen Peterman commits, although they tend to admit that the offensive line performed even more poorly during the seven games he missed last season due to injury.

Detroiters do generally agree that sole bright spot on the O-line is 26 year old left guard Rob Sims, acquired in an early April trade with Seattle.

The Debate

At this point of the season, the raging debate in Motown is focused on how to improve the offensive line.

Should the Lions plug Dylan Gandy in at center or right guard? How about using Corey Hilliard at tackle or guard? What about rookie tackle Jason Fox? Is he ready to get some playing time?

How about moving Backus to right guard and benching Peterman?

During the coming off-season, should we trade for a left tackle, or try to get one in free agency, even though teams are loathe to part with a good blindside tackle? If not, what draft picks should the Lions allocate to acquiring offensive linemen?

These are all good questions and make for an interesting and important debate.

But unless Detroit has a first-rate offensive line coach in place, any new talent the Lions bring in won’t make much of a difference.

Moving Forward

At the end of last season, Jim Schwartz fired special teams coach Stan Kwan (who is ironically now the special teams coach for Buffalo) and hired special teams coordinator Danny Crossman.

As a result, the play of the Lions special teams units improved markedly this year.

Now it’s clear that by no later than the end of this season, George Yarno should be given his walking papers. The single most important task facing Jim Schwartz will then be to hire the best possible offensive line coach available.

The future success of the Detroit Lions and Schwartz’s tenure as head coach hinge in large part on getting that decision right this time around.