Austin On Lions' Defensive Issues: 'We've Got A Bunch, There's No Hiding It'
By Ashley Scoby
@AshleyScoby
If you asked Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin to put a finger on what's wrong with his unit, you might need both hands.
"We've got a bunch," Austin said of the defense's issues. "There's no hiding it."
But a couple of the biggest, he says, have been opponents' third down percentages, and the inability to finish sacks. Both are certainly interconnected, and both are equally mysterious as to how to fix them.
"We're fine on first down," Austin said. "When we're struggling is second-and-long and third-downs. … If we were just the norm in the NFL, we'd probably be singing a different tune in terms of how our defense played, but we're not."
The Lions' opponents have 43 of their 98 third-down opportunities – a 43.9 percent rate. That's good (or bad) for 27th in the league. Teams in the middle are in the 38-to-39 percent range, and the best team in the NFL against third-down is Houston. The Texans have allowed only 26.7 percent of their opponents' third-down tries.
Detroit's lackluster pass coverage (18th in the NFL in pass yards allowed per game, at 252) has been part of that problem.
"It's been an issue," Austin said. "Sometimes, the coverage isn't what we want. Sometimes, the coverage is fine, but the quarterback extends the play and now the coverage breaks down. So it's been a little bit of both, so we've got to figure out how we can still have the sound coverage and be able to close up the rat holes up there and not have the quarterback extend the play."
The quarterbacks extending plays against Detroit is a twofold issue: On one hand, the Lions have played against some quarterbacks who are known for their ability to move around in the pocket and create time (Russell Wilson, Teddy Bridgewater). But on the other hand, Detroit's defensive line has sometimes whiffed on sack opportunities.
"We're in position, and those are big plays, those are game changers," Austin said of the team's missed sacks. "I think if you look back, I think it was the Chicago game, the one long one down the sideline, it was a missed sack, then he gets out and he throws it. So those things happen, they're going to happen, we're not going to be perfect in that regard, but we've got to start making more than we miss."
