Is a Turnaround Possible for Detroit Lions?

As the Detroit Lions limped into their bye week at 1-3 many fans of the team were left wondering if the team had any chance of making this NFL season a good one.

The Lions are in fact 6-10 including their playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints ever since their 5-0 start in 2011. The team has not just drastically come back to earth, they have crash landed and hit rock bottom.

Neither Detroit’s offense or defense looks to be on par this season thus far. Both units have struggled immensely and that is putting it mildly. The defense does not even have an interception this season, which makes the Lions one of two teams to not have one. Detroit is tied for last place with the Oakland Raiders for interceptions.

So not only has the team’s offense struggled in the red zone, but it has not forced turnovers on defense to make up for deficiencies on both sides of the ball.

With the possibility of S Louis Delmas coming back it is a priority for Detroit to improve its coverage in the secondary. If the secondary can cover more effectively than they have thus far, the Lions D-line can actually get the time it needs to get to the opposing team’s QB.

Detroit’s defense is in the middle of the pack this season with nine sacks. This is actually quite impressive with how poor the team covers the passing game. Just imagine the benefits of DT’s Ndamukong Suh or Nick Fairley having a few extra seconds to rush the passer.

A good thing for the Lions if there is one is that the team opens up with two road games after their bye against the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Bears respectively.

Both teams are amongst the league leaders in turnovers coming in at number one and four in the league.

In other words, Detroit will have its chance to force turnovers its first few weeks out after the bye week.