Lions' Louis Delmas gets flagged for big hit, but Jim Schwartz wouldn't coach it differently
By Tom Kowalski
November 30, 2009, 8:35PM
ALLEN PARK -- Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz understands why rookie safety Louis Delmas was flagged for a 15-yard penalty against the Green Bay Packers.
Schwartz also believes that people have to understand that football still is football.
Delmas was flagged for unnecessary roughness after rocking Packers tight end Jermichael Finley in the second quarter of Thursday's game at Ford Field. It was a violent collision, as Delmas hit Finley high in the chest, but replays showed Delmas leading with his shoulder and not his helmet. The officials ruled that Finley, who had the pass sail over his head, was in a defenseless position.
Schwartz was asked how he would coach Delmas differently on that play.
"There are some things that you're not going to be able to. As long as he's not leading with his head and he's not intentionally trying to hurt somebody or things like that, you've got to play hard," Schwartz said. "The officials are going to err on the side of player safety, and they did in that case.
"When you have a situation like that, when you have a defenseless receiver -- even if you don't attack his head -- if you're in a position where you can pull off, you can. It's tough because it's a full-speed game. Delmas is going full speed, and if the guy tips the ball and makes a catch -- we saw their guys make some great catches in the first game, laying out and putting a hand out and making a catch. You want your guys to finish plays, but the officials threw the flag."
It's too bad Delmas didn't return that interception for a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks earlier this season.
In the first quarter of that game, Delmas picked off the ball at the 31-yard line and returned it 29 yards to the 2-yard line. If he had taken it all the way, Delmas would have pulled off an interesting trifecta: scoring three ways as a defender this season.
Delmas already had returned a fumble for a touchdown, against the New Orleans Saints, and he recorded a safety Thursday against the Packers.
While Delmas continues to blossom at safety, problems remain on the defensive line.
The Lions are forced to blitz 40 to 50 percent of the time during each game because they can't generate a respectable pass rush with their front four defensive linemen.
While defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham has been creative in how he brings extra pressure, it also greatly reduces his overall versatility because he has to commit so many players to the rush.
"We haven't been able to get good pressure on the quarterback. We've had to blitz quite a lot," Schwartz said. "You saw circumstances there where Gun dialed up good blitzes because we had guys running totally free toward the quarterback, but he got rid of the ball.
"Most of the time when you're blitzing, you're not blitzing to sack the quarterback. It's very rare that you blitz and actually sack the quarterback. What you're trying to do is force a bad throw, force him to throw somewhere he doesn't want to throw. On third-and-10, you blitz, they throw a 5-yard pass and you're off the field."
In theory, Schwartz is correct. However, the Lions rarely have a team in third-and-10. It's usually third-and-5 or less, and that's why those short "hot reads" can be so effective. Not to mention the Lions aren't real strong in tackling receivers after the catch.
To be an effective defense in the NFL, a team must generate consistent pressure with the front four. That has been a problem in Detroit for more than a decade.
"Generally, your sacks come from coverage with a four-man pass rush where the quarterback has to hold the ball and wait for those plays down the field. It's happened to our offense," Schwartz said. "We're not doing a good job with our four-man pass rush, but a little bit of that goes hand-in-hand with our coverage. There have been times when we've had a good pass rush and then blown a coverage in the back end. But that's really the life blood of what you do defensively: stop the pass with a four-man pass rush.
"We need to do a better job of that. The bottom line is that we haven't rushed well enough."