1 reason every NFL team can win the Super Bowl
By Andrew Garda
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions came close last year, but ran into the buzzsaw that was the Dallas Cowboys and ended their season in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs. This season they want to replicate their success—but have to do it without Ndamukong Suh.
They’ve got the offensive firepower to score points with quarterback Matthew Stafford throwing to Calving Johnson and Golden Tate, with a backfield of Joique Bell and Theo Riddick. The offensive line is good enough to protect Stafford and open gaps for the backfield. The offense isn’t the issue.
The issue could be the defense, though it—particularly the secondary—has made huge strides the last few seasons.
You don’t lose a player like Suh without a little adjustment though. The Lions are betting on the combination of Haloti Ngata and Tyrunn Walker or Caraun Reid will help fill the void left when Suh took his 8.5 sacks to the Miami Dolphins.
Of course, the Lions got pressure from the edge as well, with Ziggy Ansah generating 7.5 sacks last season, but there’s nobody else close to those totals, and certainly nobody generating them from inside.
So how will the Lions replace Suh? Will someone step up inside? Or are we looking at some changes in how the Lions rush the quarterback?
Either one could be done, though the more likely is the philosophical shift. Some tight coverage by Rashean Mathis and Darius Slay at the corners and pressure from Ansah, as well as linebackers Deandre Levy and Josh Bynes or Kyle Van Noy makes more sense. Interior sacks aren’t easy to come by, and Suh was a special case.
That doesn’t mean you can’t make up for his production—it just means you adjust and get it from somewhere else. If the Lions can do that, they have an excellent chance of a playoff berth and maybe a Super Bowl win.
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