How Detroit’s defense has evolved since bye week
The Detroit Lions’ defense has steadily improved since the start of the 2020 season.
Following the bye week, Detroit has noticeably made certain changes that have resulted in positive outcomes on the football field.
Increased pressure on the quarterback, forcing turnovers and playing more zone coverage in the secondary have allowed the defense to make strides.
Lions defensive coordinator Cory Undlin explained on Tuesday during a video conference that certain personnel groupings have been productive and the ability to stop the run has played a significant role in the defense turning things around.
“How many times has this been said, as far as no OTAs, short training camp — and just like any family, any group of men that spend a lot of time together, there’s a chemistry and there’s a trust that goes into it. When you look to the guy to your right and the guy to your left, can you count on those guys? I think the longer we get together, the more time we spend together, it’s coming together,” Undlin said.
Despite the increased productivity, Undlin did not reveal that Detroit has a radical new scheme.
Instead, Detroit’s first- year defensive coordinator expressed the defense has improved on execution and with players performing to their capabilities.
“Obviously, after the bye week, going into the bye not having been playing great ball there, especially against the run, that’s not a secret. Then, you look at the last two weeks, we haven’t come up with some radical new scheme. We’ve gotten better at what we do is what we’ve done,” Undlin explained. “So, staying focused on the things we can control. We’re kind of settling in, I think, right now. It’s not nowhere near complete, but we’re getting to the point where we can put those groups out there and feel really good about everybody doing their job. It’s been good the last two weeks obviously, and that goes without saying. Got to keep going, though. There’s plenty of stuff coming out of both of those games, specifically, obviously, the one we just played two days ago, that we can still clean up, that we need to clean up. So, we’ll keep grinding it down and keep working.”