The Detroit Lions Secondary Continues To Struggle.
The Detroit Lions secondary, a position group that appeared to be the strength of the defense entering the 2018 season, has struggled mightily for several weeks now, and it has certainly become an area of concern rather than an anchor to the team.
Cornerback Darius Slay was out this week with an injury, and losing your top cornerback never bodes well for the success of the secondary, but the other defensive backs looked completely lost against the Chicago Bears on Sunday. Slay is certainly the primary component of the Lions defensive backs group, but there is no excuse for looking completely dysfunctional when you lose a single player from the secondary. None.
Second-year quarterback Mitchell Trubisky lit up the Lions defense to the tune of 355 and three touchdowns. At the end of the first half, Trubisky had more touchdowns than he had incompletions. That is simply an unacceptable performance, regardless of the personnel on the field. The Lions secondary gave up big play after big play, committed costly penalties and argued among themselves. It was a really bad look for the team on Sunday.
The Lions have been surprisingly effective at rushing the passer in 2018, an area that many, including myself, expected the team to struggle in. While the pass rush has been a pleasant surprise, the secondary’s woes have been anything but.
Any time a team’s strength becomes a glaring weakness, it spells bad news for the season, and that is exactly what fans have witnessed over the past few weeks, bad news.
Cornerback Nevin Lawson continues to struggle with penalties and can’t seem to find any way to make plays on the ball, giving up repeated receptions despite tough coverage. Safety Glover Quin is not the same player that he was a year ago. Most importantly, the Lions have no answers at the cornerback position beyond Slay and Lawson, if you dare to be so bold as to call Lawson an “answer” at cornerback.
While it is becoming abundantly clear that the Lions are looking to the future, the secondary has to be one of the focuses in this upcoming offseason. There are very few promising pieces left among Detroit’s struggling defensive backs, and they are likely looking at a lot of turnover in the secondary in this upcoming offseason.
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