Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions coordinators took the podium on Thursday morning after the team’s tough loss to the Minnesota Vikings. While the coordinators have never shied away from honesty in their media sessions, this felt turned up to 11. All three coordinators pointed to specific players or units that made mistakes against the Vikings, while also noting their faith in turning things around.
Here are eight takeaways from the media session.
Protection is the key to everything
When asked what the toughest part of rewatching the poor offensive performance from the offense, Morton pointed to their inability to protect Jared Goff.
“The protection, that was the biggest thing,” Morton said. “I mean, we draw up all these plays we want, doesn’t matter. That was the biggest thing. Winning our one-on-one matchups; that was big. That set us back. Second-and-long, third-and-long. We had a lot of third-and-longs. But when we did things right, we did really well. That was the biggest thing. It just—clogging the middle up, protection. You can’t do a lot of stuff with that. And we all have our hand in that game plan, and we would do things differently next time.”
Goff was sacked five times against the Vikings, and PFF credited Minnesota’s defense with 26 pressures.
Execution—not communication or blitz identification—is the problem
Blame has been placed all around for the poor protection in the Vikings game. Some have blamed the scheme, some have blamed blitz identification, while others have pointed to the offensive line just not winning. Morton mostly blamed the final one.
“I think our communication has been really good. Ever since the Green Bay game, it’s been really good. It’s just a matter of some guys getting beat. That’s all it is,” Morton said. “I’m just telling you that’s—when you look at it over and over and over, it’s one or two guys that are just breaking down. And we’ve got young guys, and they’re still learning. And really, they shouldn’t be because we’re halfway through the season.”
When asked if they had trouble identifying blitzes, Morton, again, harped on execution being the bigger problem.
“No, the IDs have been good. I’m just saying, guys are breaking down,” Morton said. “And it’s one or two guys when you watch it. And we’ve got to collectively get it right.”
More Isaac TeSlaa coming
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Morton believes they will get rookie receiver Isaac TeSlaa more involved this week after playing in just three offensive snaps vs. the Vikings.
“We’re going to get him the ball more. And that helps with the other guys, so they’re not always playing 65, 70 plays. But we’re real happy with where he’s at,” Morton said.
In defense of Arthur Maulet
On the game-defining play against the Vikings, Maulet was lined up in man-coverage against Jalen Nailor on third-and-5. While in tight coverage, Maulet couldn’t make a play on the ball. Nailor caught...
