Four consequences of the Detroit Lions new level of physicality
By Ash Thompson
Reports from every media outlet are saying that the Detroit Lions first practice in pads was a significantly more physical brand than those of Jim Caldwell. That is likely a very good thing for the team. The team will finally shed the image of a soft team.
The Lions have been pushed around for years. The conventional wisdom of the league is that dome teams tend to be fast and agile, not powerful and tough. The Lions have battled this perception for as long as I remember. Even during the Barry Sanders era, when the team’s entire offense was based on the running game, they were looked upon as a soft team.
The more current iterations of the team have also been soft. The 2015-2017 defenses were easily pushed around. Teams could move the ball up and down the field at will. The Lions defense took on a “bend but don’t break” identity. Routinely defensive stops required turnovers or a lucky bounce, as opposed to anything resembling stout play. The 2015 season ended in a horrific defeat at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks. The team’s defensive line was almost a formality to be shoved aside at will. Seattle’s offensive line was not even good.
The Detroit Lions have been much more success moving the ball on offense. It has not been because of their overpowering offensive line, or their thunderous running game. The Detroit Lions have been a pass-first team virtually since Sanders’ retirement. The Detroit Lions team has historically been defined by being unable to run the ball to kill the clock or score in the red zone.
The Lions do not play in a division where that can ever be O.K. Two of the NFL’s toughest late-season venues to play in exist within the NFC North. “The Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field” is not just an expression coined by Chris Berman. It is a recognition of an undeniable reality. Playing late-season games in Wisconsin is awful. Soldier field is not exactly hospitable late in the year either, though it lacks a nickname with the same gravitas.
In situations like these, the ball is more difficult to throw, and it is more difficult to catch. Finesse football is more difficult to execute. The Lions have to be able to function in such circumstances. There are, of course, other considerations.