Whats Wrong with the Detroit Lions Offensive Line?: On the list of preseason concerns about the Detroit Lions, offensive line ranked well down the list. Unfortunately, it has quickly risen to the top of the growing pile of issues with the sputtering offense. Sundays loss to Buffalo certainly elevated the line woes into critical condition. Matthew Stafford was sacked a career-high 6 times vs. Bills — Detroit Lions (@Lions_Insider) October 6, 2014 While some of the sacks were as much on Stafford holding the ball too long and not finding any open targets, there is no question the quarterback was under heavy duress all afternoon. The run blocking wasnt much better. Detroit managed just 69 yards on 20 carries, as Reggie Bush and George Winn both struggled to find room to run. One of the big problems in the run game was an inability of the line to execute the initial block. On this play, left guard Rob Sims (No. 67) is charged with keeping the defensive tackle from getting to his right. The rest of the line does its job well here. Right tackle LaAdrian Waddle (No. 66) steers his man to the outside and seals off the edge. Center Dominic Raiola has effectively locked his man with good technique. Fullback Jed Collins has a clear path through the hole to engage the linebacker as a lead blocker. Unfortunately, Sims is not up to the task. His man, backup defensive tackle Stefan Charles, quickly beats him to the inside and is into the hole before Winn even gets the ball. It forces a hesitation, and Jerry Hughes is able to crash in around Waddle to make a tackle-for-loss. Sims had a very rough day. The veteran earned a minus-4.4 grade from Pro Football Focus (subscription required), the lowest score any Detroit lineman has accrued all season. This continues a downward spiral for the man who served as a captain in the Bills game. Now 30 and in the final year of his contract, the Lions were hoping to squeeze one more capable season from Sims. That might have proven too optimistic. He was not the only Lion with a bad day. As noted by Justin Rogers of MLive, ...the struggles up front hardly fell on one player. Left tackle Riley Reiff gave up his first sack of the season after he was beat by defensive end Jerry Hughes, and Waddle was knocked to the ground by Mario Williams as the athletic end chased Stafford out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage. Waddle showed some rust in his first game in a month after suffering a calf injury on the opening drive of the season. He was flagged three times, and in watching the game a couple more times he got away with several holds as well. He should improve as he rounds back into shape, and Waddles impact will be most felt in the running game. PFF graded him at 4.6 in run blocking while playing less than half the offensive snaps as an undrafted rookie in 2013, a very impressive feat. Waddle and Warford were a dominant force as a rookie right side tandem last year. Warford finally played to expectations against Buffalo, the only real bright spot. Getting his wing man back appeared to help. However, hes still not near the level he was a year ago, when he was PFFs Offensive Rookie of the Year. The right guard offered an interesting explanation of some of the issues against Buffalo. As quoted by Michael Rothstein of ESPN, They just got us on different levels. One lineman was playing the game really, really fast as far as penetrating and the other was slow-tempoing it down. It’s a great way to run it. It gets us on different levels. I can’t get back in the protection early because I’m getting held up with someone who is playing slow. That was kind of an issue, but it was nothing that is unfixable. Detroit clearly struggled with the unorthodox attack. Instead of looking like a unified front, the offensive line was often staggered like teeth on a jack-o-lantern, with a guard in the backfield and the tackle still up tight to the line. It creates space for the defensive linemen to create and get isolated on just one blocker. Credit Bills defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz for knowing what would work against his former team. As Warford noted, this is a fixable issue. The Lions coaches will pick up on this and implement some strategies to help. Yet it can be tough to teach new tricks to old dogs. Sims and Raiola are both longer in the tooth on a weekly basis. Raiola, now in his 14th season, is 36 and isnt playing to his impressive level of a year ago. He gave up a sack against Buffalo and is visibly having trouble sustaining his blocks. There arent many options in terms of personnel changes for the Lions. Rookie third-rounder Travis Swanson struggled all summer and is not ready to succeed either Sims or Raiola this year. One thing that would help is having Stafford getting rid of the ball quicker. It would also help if the quarterback was less reluctant to throw the ball away when his first couple of reads are covered. There simply isnt time to hold the ball and keep searching. Even when Lions offensive line was bad, pass protection was usually decent. This group has been brutal in 2014. — Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) October 5, 2014 Next Sundays opponent presents a chance for the line to reassert itself. The Minnesota Vikings rank 14th in sack percentage, well below the third-ranked Bills. They also surrender 4.3 yards per carry, whereas the Bills give up just 3. The Bills are going to give most teams fits with their impressive front, as have the Carolina Panthers, the other team to beat the Lions this year. If the Lions offensive line continues to struggle against lesser competition like the Vikings, its officially a problem. Read more NFL news on BleacherReport #Football #NFL #NFCNorth #DetroitLions
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 01:34:45 +0000
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