Is the Defense improving?

[Earthquake Enyart]

Or was Lucas that bad? I read in TMQ (ESPN Page 2; highly recommended) that Lucas would have had a higher QB rating in last Sunday's game if every single pass he threw was incomplete.

With that horrible a performance, can we make any assumption that the D is getting better?

[WG]

I think the jury's out. Lucas was just that bad. The only pass that wasn't targeted for one of our players over one of theirs was the last one that Robinson picked off. Even the two fumbles were caused by seemingly laxadaisical efforts by Lucas. I don't blame Ricky for the one.

Lucas' throws were way off all day with only a few exceptions.

BUT, Clements did play heads up. Watson did cover well even though it was against a guy who has never played in the NFL before. Fletcher's play was not good. DL was good which I thought was the most telling thing. The rest of the D feeds off of what the DL does. If they don't do it, then the "rest of the D" needs to.

So if Irons and Edwards can play like they did, then we'll be someowhat improved. Keep in mind that Lucas had plenty of time in the pocket usually. He simply couldn't throw the ball very well and at times we covered their second-rate WRs pretty well. So it's really tough to tell.

Fortunately, Detroit doesn't have the WRs that rival the best tandems in the league. Heck, their top guy is Hakim I think. So we won't really be tested there either. But you never know with this team either. Next week the coaches could blunder in their defensive play calling.

It's a crap shoot.

But if Irons and Edwards step up and Henry continues to play well, then I think those are the two biggest ways that we can improve.

[WG]

My vote:

It's too early to tell. This season has been a roller-coaster ride of performance.

[Earthquake Enyart]

Wow. Quite a move from negative to non-committal.

The pass rush looked better. Hopefully that will help the entire defensive effort and lead to more turnovers.

But Lucas was pretty bad.

[venis2k1]

Everybody looked good on the defense sunday, even watson.

[Mad Bomber]

Yes, Lucas sucked big time.

But...
We held Ricky to <4 yards per carry. We also did ok against the A-train. Those two games show that our run D may be on the rise.

On the other hand,
Watson should be shot.

I think we can outscore the Lions.

Overall, our D-line needs to do a much better job at pass rushing.

[The_Philster]

I have to agree with Wys....it's too early to say for sure. If they can keep it up for another couple of games, then maybe we can say they are becoming a good "D"

[shelby]

i think that Lucas sucks copious amounts of @$$....but i also think our D is slowly improving. Give it time y'all...they are making strides in the right direction. i was thrilled to finally see some INTs!
Schoebel is underrated in my opinion...and you all know how much i admire Wire's intensity.:biggrin:

[The_Philster]

Originally posted by shelby
i think that Lucas sucks copious amounts of @$$....but i also think our D is slowly improving. Give it time y'all...they are making strides in the right direction. i was thrilled to finally see some INTs!
Schoebel is underrated in my opinion...and you all know how much i admire Wire's intensity.:biggrin:

:shakeno: You just admire his looks ;)

[Typ0]

I don't really think they improved much. We all knew right from the get go this was going to be a high risk defense predicated on creating some breaks...unfortunatelly up until last week all the breaks went against us. Like you guys are saying we need to fire up the pass rush and keep getting good penetration on the run defense. When things start working together things can look awefully good fast.

[TigerJ]

Really, it was some of both Sunday.