A reinforced defense will have to hold the line while it waits for the offense to get in gear

By Jeffri Chadiha

With his relentless pass rush, Porcher will give Detroit's secondary time to jell. Tom Hauck /Allsport Enemy Lines An opposing team's scout sizes up the Lions "The Lions have more speed, especially on offense. Az Hakim gives them a deep threat, and Bill Schroeder will get downfield, but they don't have that big, physical guy for the intermediate routes. If you don't have somebody working underneath, it doesn't matter how fast your receivers are, because they won't get open.... I don't know if their quarterbacks will be effective. They're athletic guys who can run around and make something happen, but they have a lot of growing to do.... The offensive line is strong at center and left tackle. After that, everybody else is average or worse.... They're going to miss David Sloan. Mikhael Ricks isn't the answer at tight end.... If Luke Staley is healthy, he could help their offense because he's a good receiver out of the backfield. James Stewart really doesn't fit what they want to do.... I like their front four. Luther Elliss and Shaun Rogers play hard, and Robert Porcher is still an effective pass rusher.... Detroit lost its most productive linebacker, Stephen Boyd, and bringing in Brian Williams didn't help them much. He has a bad knee. Chris Claiborne has a lot of talent, but he needs to become a better student of the game.... At this point in his career Todd Lyght is best-suited to be a third or fourth cornerback.... The Lions will win more games than last year, but not that many. They just need a lot more help." In the Year 2001 Record: 2-14 (fifth in NFC Central) NFL rank (rush/pass/total) Offense: 28/6/16 Defense: 23/25/26 New Twist With the retirement of Stephen Boyd , Chris Claiborne becomes the starter at middle linebacker. Playing in the middle at USC, Claiborne won the Butkus Award in 1998. He was versatile enough to play on the weak side for the last three seasons in Detroit, but he's most comfortable calling the signals and making an impact from the inside. Schedule Strength NFL Rank: 12 Opponents' 2001 winning percentage: .512 Games against playoff teams: 8

Cornerback Todd Lyght says things have already changed for the better in the Lions' secondary. He could see the difference in the first preseason game, after he bit on a head fake by Ravens wide receiver Travis Taylor. A year ago Lyght wouldn't have played that aggressively, because he wasn't sure the safety backing him up could cover those mistakes. But then Brian Walker, a free-agent pickup from the Dolphins, glided over and intercepted Chris Redman's pass. For most teams preseason moments are nothing to get excited about, but an instantly hopeful Lyght latched on to that one because there were so few positives last year, when Detroit went 2-14. The secondary figured prominently in that woeful effort, and if the busted coverages and breakdowns in key situations persist, it will be hard for the Lions to make significant improvement.

Detroit's best chance to win is with defense, because the offense is suspect. Second-year quarterback Mike McMahon (three starts as a rookie) will start ahead of first-round draft pick Joey Harrington, the Lions don't have a true No. 1 receiver (free-agent pickup Az Hakim, the Rams' fourth wideout in recent years, being the closest thing), and the line got banged up in the preseason.

By contrast Detroit has a talented defensive line led by Pro Bowl end Robert Porcher, a playmaking middle linebacker in Chris Claiborne and that overhauled defensive backfield. In addition to Walker, the Lions signed two other free agents -- safety Corey Harris and 13-year cornerback Eric Davis -- and drafted cornerbacks André Goodman (third round) and Chris Cash (sixth). Only Lyght, a 12-year veteran, and fellow corner Terry Fair are holdovers from last season. "We've improved the secondary," says new defensive coordinator Kurt Schottenheimer. "We brought in two good, athletic safeties, and we've got depth at cornerback. We just need one guy who can consistently win battles with receivers."

Davis, playing for his third team in three seasons, and Lyght are savvy but have lost a step. Fair, recovering from a broken right foot when camp began, wasn't a shutdown corner before his injury. That's why, when planning for the draft, Lions president Matt Millen considered using his top pick on a cornerback instead of Harrington. More than anything, this group has to stay healthy. Last season Fair, cornerback Bryant Westbrook and safeties Ron Rice and Kurt Schulz were sidelined early by injuries, and their backups didn't have the experience to handle the complicated system of then defensive coordinator Vince Tobin. As a result Detroit yielded a 60.7% completion rate, eighth in the league.

This season Schottenheimer simplified not only the coverages but also most of the rest of the defensive scheme. After giving up 26.5 points per game in 2001, the Lions should be more aggressive because they have fewer keys to recognize before they begin chasing the ball. "We didn't get a grasp of the defense last year, and when you don't know what you're doing, you're going to play slow," says Claiborne. "This year everybody knows where he's supposed to be."

The Lions have also taken quickly to Schottenheimer, who they say is more approachable than Tobin was. Porcher was impressed with how the new coordinator handled a rookie free agent who was struggling to understand a scheme that Schottenheimer was diagramming in a meeting. Schottenheimer patiently scribbled the play on the blackboard again, reiterating the responsibilities of each defender -- "and this was for a guy who might not even make the team," Porcher says. "That definitely showed me something."

Now the members of the secondary have to start showing their coaches a few things. "With the guys we have, we can talk about different ways we want to play our coverages," Lyght says. "Corey will say how he did things in Baltimore, Brian will talk about Miami, and I'll bring up different combinations that worked when I was in St. Louis. We've got a lot of knowledge to draw upon, and that's only going to help us later."

Issue date: September 2, 2002