A couple of days ago I handed out my end of season grades for the Detroit Lions Offensive unit. If you read that post, it’s pretty easy to see I wasn’t too happy and certainly let down by the offense this year. But how did the Defensive unit fare in my viewpoint? The Lions defense was supposed to struggle this year, so I took that into consideration when grading them this year. Again, my grades are determined as much for how they did against expectations as they are for simple performance. Well, let’s get to em…

Defensive Line: C-

The defensive line was supposed to be the anchor of a weak defensive unit this year. Sean Rogers and Kalimba Edwards were supposed to be heavyweights this year. They both were busts and I hope are not with the team next year. Early in the season, the Lions seemed to win or lose based on the play of the defensive line. When they disappeared, the Lions got blown out. The second half of the season, I think they were on the field, but one can never be sure. The lone bright spot on the line was DeWayne White who had half a dozen sacks and let the team in fumble recoveries. Unfortunately, he was never the same after his shoulder/arm injury midway through the season. We have to improve her next year.

Linebackers: D

Watching the Lions linebackers try to tackle was laughable this year. - except for Ernie Sims. Sims is a man amongst boys on the Lions. We need a few more of him. This grade would have been an E except for the stellar play of Sims. These guys were quiet all year. Baily, Lehman, Lenon and Lews just didnt make enough plays. In Marinelli’s scheme, these guys have it pretty simple, play the gaps. If the ball carrier got past the line, it was likely a CB or S making the stop - unless Sims was around. I wish we could clone Sims. This area needs to be addressed in the offseason.

Seconday: C

I really struggled coming up with a grade here. The coverage by the secondary was terrible. We gave up lots of yardage every game. Opposing quarterbacks had big days and lofty ratings. Still, the for much of the first half of the season, the Lions led the league in takeaways and were near the top in interceptions. This from a unit everyone knew was going to be bad. I give them credit for a better than expected first half. Unfortunately, the second half was pretty much what was expected. They were eaten alive. I think cornerback could be our number 1 need this offseason. I think we are okay at safety with Bullocks coming back from injury and the inspired play of Greg Blue the last few games.

Defensive Coordinator: C-

This is really for all the defensive coaches. You have to give them credit the first half of the season. The Lions went 6 - 2 largely because of big plays by the defense. However, throughout the season, the defense took too many stupid penalties that kept opposing drives alive. The anchor of the defense, the line, was bad all year. Why couldn’t the coaches get them to play?

It’s time for me to give out my grades to the Lions offensive squad. It’s not really that pretty. Some of the less than stellar grades are directly related to expectations at the beginning of the year. Bottom line is that the as a unit, the offensive line did not perform up to expectations and were a disappointment. Let’s get to the grades…

Quarterback: B-

Jon Kitna certainly threw for a lot of yards this year (over 4000), but his other stats weren’t quite as impressive. He completed 63% of his passes this year, which was fair, but his 20 interceptions with only 18 touchdowns was horrible. Throw in all of his fumbles and you have way too many mistakes for a veteran quarterback to be making. Too many of those mistakes were in the Red Zone and cost his team points.

I give Kitna credit for early in the season getting the Lions off on the right track. During the first half of the season, the Lions certainly looked like his team. He was able to rally and focus them on the task at hand. He appeared to be a true leader for the team. However, when things went South in the second half, he started running his mouth and said some stuff a leader shouldn’t say. He was unable to get the guys back on track.

Running Back: B-

This grade may not be entirely fair due to the game plan of Martz, but the Lions didn’t really have a running game. Why in the World did we bring in Tatum Bell during the offseason. He was a complete flop, though I don’t really know if he was given a chance. Kevin Jones fought back from his injury this year and showed some moments of why the Lions drafted him a few years back. TJ Duckett was hot or cold. Some games he couldn’t do anything and other games he looked unstoppable. I suspect if the Lions had a more balanced attack during the past season, this grade would have been somewhat higher.

Wide Receivers: B

The Lions drafted heralded wide receiver Calvin Johnson in the last draft and big things were expected from the offense this year. Calvin had a more than respectable year, but most of it was in the first half of the season. Like many rookies, he appeared to tire and fade late in the season. Hopefully, he does some serious conditioning in the offseason and comes back ready to light it up next year.

Mike Furrey led the team in receptions last year. This year, he ended up as the fourth receiver statistically. Roy Williams was expected to exert himself as a big play receiver. While he did have a few plays, they were not of the big play variety. He often seemed to run the wrong route or drop a ball at the worst time. Roy will be a force in this league, but I think the thing he has to overcome most is himself. If he convinces himself he wants to be one of the elite receivers, he can be. Sean MacDonald was the surprise receiver this year leading the team in receptions. Unfortunately, there were too many times where he caught the ball and then gave up yards and first downs by running backwards trying to make something happen. He needs to just lower his head and get a few more yards.

Offensive Line: D

This is where the Lions offense failed the most. The offensive line was the most porous in the NFL giving up a league leading 63 sacks. Yup, that’s right, 63 sacks. That’s just about an average of 4 per game. That puts an incredible amount of stress and pressure on the quarterback. The line also failed to be consistent in the running game. Some games they opened up some holes and others they did nothing. In the past, I have thought pretty highly of Backus, but he had his worst year as a Lion. George Foster, who was acquired with Bell, was a complete failure. The bright spot was how well Damien Woody stepped in at right tackle in the last quarter of the season. One can only wonder what might have happened if he had started the season there. Unfortunately, Woody is a free agent this year and is likely to not return though he isn’t against it.

Offensive Coordinator: C-

It’s no secret that Mike Martz likes to pass, but to have games where you only attempt 8 runs is crazy. And those games were not out of range early forcing the Lions to throw. We just came in to some games with game plans that I just didn’t understand. I wouldn’t have minded us throwing more than running, but it shouldn’t be as lopsided as it was with the Lions this year. I actually respect Martz and his football savvy, but he just wasn’t right for the Lions. I don’t know if he and Marinelli ever saw eye to eye. I think he failed to react to the way his offense was playing. While giving up all those sacks, Martz kept doing the same thing instead of altering his game plan to best utilize the teams strengths.