In a recent breakdown of all 32 NFL teams this season, former Saints and Dolphins GM Randy Mueller wrote that "the biggest concerns I have for (the Lions) are on defense." Despite Detroit's additions this offseason, from free agent defensive backs Cam Sutton, Emmanuel Moseley and C.J. Gardner-Johnson to first-round linebacker Jack Campbell, Mueller says, "I still worry about it being able to stop anyone in the near future — run or pass."
Is Detroit's defense, which did rank last in the NFL last season, still a major concern for the NFC North favorites? Not according to Gator, who says the Lions performed like a top-10 defense over the final 10 games of last season:
"Now you go into the offseason with the defense improving to that point and now you’ve added players to the secondary in particular that should make this team better, I flat out disagree with the assessment that the defense is a major concern. I’m encouraged to see how much better this defense is going to be. Is this going to be a top-10 defense, a top-16 defense? If they improve by 4 points against a game, all of the sudden you’re a top-half-of-the-league defense."
Karsch says he still has nightmares about the Panthers game in Week 17 when the Lions were gouged for nearly 600 yards, but adds, "I don’t think you have to have an elite defense to win in the NFL anymore:"
"That has changed in the last two, three years. Watching the patterns, teams with elite offenses more consistently have success than teams with elite defenses. That doesn’t mean I want to suck defensively. I think getting to average is very important, and I think going from terrible to average is a lot easier than going from average to great. I think they have a shot to get there."
And if the Lions offense continues to be elite, an average defense might be good enough.
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