Defensive Line Dominant Again As Players Embrace Mentality Of No Weak Links
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
FORD FIELD (CBS DETROIT) - On any team, no one wants to be the weak link. The Detroit Lions defensive line has embraced that concept by way of a weekly ritual in which the players connect actual links - each one representing one player - to form a chain.
Before Detroit's season opener against the New York Giants, defensive line coaches Jim Washburn and Kris Kocurek handed each defensive lineman a link. The coaches instructed each player to speak on what he would bring to the upcoming game, and then each player added his link to the chain.
The message after the chain's completion: Don't be the weak link.
Each week, the chain gets taken apart, and the day before each game, it gets rebuilt.
"We're linked up," defensive tackle Nick Fairley explained. "Ain't no weak link. Can't pull that apart."
The Lions defensive line looked anything but weak Sunday, spearheading an effort in which Detroit defeated the Green Bay Packers, 19-7.
The Lions sacked heralded quarterback Aaron Rodgers twice and held the Packers to a single score. In addition, the Detroit defense accounted for nine points thanks to a fumble return touchdown and a safety.
Before the game, the defensive linemen came out together for introductions, just as they did before the Lions played the Packers last season. Fairley takes credit for the idea to enter as one unit, and he said the group will continue with that collective entry in the future.
"We're a unit as a defensive line," Fairley said. "From here on out, we're not going out as separate. We're going out 'Detroit defensive line.' That's how we're going out."
The group has been confident before, but Sunday's showing against Rodgers & Co. certainly did not hurt.
"I think we have an opportunity to dominate every particular game as long as we hone into our keys, get off the ball, do what we're taught and execute what we have at hand," defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said. "We've got a great staff, great defensive coordinator in TA [Teryl Austin], and so at the end of the day, regardless of what we have in front of us, whoever it may - Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, whatever it is - we should have an opportunity to be successful."
Lions center Dominic Raiola said he was not surprised at how well the defensive line performed against Rodgers, one of the league's elite quarterbacks.
"We knew what kind of game it was going to be from the get-go," Raiola said. "I'm proud of our d-line. It's no surprise to me. When they don't get to the quarterback, ruin a quarterback's day, that's a surprise to me. But when they do stuff like that, it's no surprise. I give them a lot of credit for this game."
