Lions DE Willie Young: ‘I need to be smarter’

During Sunday’s huge win against the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions defensive end Willie Young made a huge mistake. During a potentially game-tying two-point conversion pass attempt that fell incomplete, Young hit Bears backup quarterback Josh McCown in the head, resulting in the Bears getting a second chance.

While the Lions still came away with the win, Young knows this was a massive mistake, and admitted he needs to avoid these mistakes in the future, via TheMMQB.com:

First thing that came to my mind was this thing could have been over, been done with, but we have to play one more snap. I need to be smarter than that.

The Lions defensive line is tough and talented, but also has a reputation for its dirty play. Just in the Bears game alone, Young and defensive tackle Nick Fairley were both flagged and fined for late hits on McCown. Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who seemingly gets fined after every game, avoided a fine, but was flagged for a facemask on Bears starting quarterback Jay Cutler.

Luckily for Willie, Fairley blew up the Bears’ second tw0-point attempt, and they held onto the win. At 6-3, and with injuries to Cutler and Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Lions to be in the driver’s seat in the NFC North. But the Lions defensive front need to learn how to continue to make big plays without the silly personal fouls. Otherwise, there playoff aspirations could end before they even start.