Lions Film Study: Detroit’s secondary is finally fixing one of its biggest problems, and 3 players show why
Keith Abney, D.J. Reed and Khalil Dorsey each made a different kind of play against Green Bay that showed why Detroit’s secondary is starting to look much more connected.
We’ve done a Detroit Lions film study every week of the season this year, and we’ve generally covered something negative every week.
With that in mind, this week I want to talk about something positive, and it’s something that is actually happening. The secondary is getting better against explosives. I picked three clips with three different players. Let’s talk about what has helped.
Clip 1: Abney makes an incredible heads-up play
All we’ve heard about Abney this year is that he is a very headsy and smart player. You see it right here. Abney catches on to the play, sees what is happening, and then runs like Tayshaun Prince did to block Reggie Miller and gets the pass breakups.
This is the kind of thing that the Lions need going forward. I know that Lions head coach Dan Campbell has talked about players doing their jobs and not having to worry about bailing out their teammates all the time, but in this case, Abney made the right move.
Clip 2: Reed keeps getting better and better
Reed has been getting better in recent weeks and it shows with plays like this. Matthew Golden does his best to shake Reed and nearly does, but Reed stays sticky here. Because of that, he’s able to get a hand in and force the breakup.
But looking at the rest of the field, everyone is doing their job here. That is the big thing to pay attention to. The spacing works here because there isn’t an obvious, completely uncovered receiver running through the middle of the defense. Defenders maintain their relationships with one another and eliminate easy throwing opportunities. This is something this group struggled mightily with just a few weeks ago.
Clip 3: Dorsey shows up on defense and gets the game ball
We’ve never really seen Dorsey play on defense before. He’d only played 20 defensive snaps in his career before this game. He played 16 in this one and really showed up. This was a big PBU for the Lions.
They maintain that spacing again as the routes develop. Nobody is just running around chasing receivers, and the Lions have defenders in position at multiple levels of the field. Even when Jordan Love decides to attack deep, the coverage is there to contest the throw, and the pass falls incomplete. That’s the kind of thing we’ve been wanting to see more consistently from this secondary. It’s not always about making a spectacular play on the football. Sometimes it’s about being where you’re supposed to be, trusting the guys around you, and making the quarterback complete a difficult throw.
Getting Brian Branch back is a big part of all this because his versatility allows everyone to feel a lot more comfortable being where they’re supposed to be without having to try to do too much. The Lions still have to continue this type of play, but this has been impressive.
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