Paul Pasqualoni Says Lions Defense is "Very Sound and a Good Concept"

Defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni defends Lions defense

© Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

It's very difficult to find many positives when it comes to the Detroit Lions 2019 defense. 

Especially after Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott threw for 444 yards and three touchdown passes against a defense struggling to find any sort of consistency in their play.

When on a critical third down and four late in the fourth quarter, Dak Prescott literally has nobody pressuring him. On that particular play, the Lions decided to rush three and drop back eight. 

This was one of the critical plays in the game. Stop the Cowboys and the Lions have an opportunity to gain possession for a chance to tie the game. 

By not pressuring at all, it allowed Prescott to survey the field and extend the Dallas offensive drive. 

Defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni was asked about this critical play in his weekly teleconference. 

“Well, hindsight’s always 20/20, right? So, I mean we could’ve, would’ve, should’ve," Pasqualoni said. "The defense is a very sound and good concept, we just needed to do a little better job in that scenario. That’s all.”

Also in the teleconference, Pasqualoni discussed the challenges stopping opposing quarterbacks.

Pasqualoni replied, “Well, the thing I’ve always believed very, very strongly is that your pass defense is a combination of rush and coverage and the marriage of the rushing and the coverage. It’s consistency in the rush, consistency in the coverage and just trying to have a good marriage of the two. Typically, when things don’t go exactly where you’d like from a pass-defense standpoint if you go back and look at it, nine times out of 10 that’s going to be it. What is that marriage, and how is it working together?”

“Well, I think if we do from a game-plan standpoint, when we put the game-plan together as a staff, if we feel that we have some of those opportunities, then we will certainly do that," replied Pasqualoni when asked about the perceived lack of blitzing from the defense. 

Pasqualoni and the Lions continue to defend the defensive scheme and he noted the success last week sacking the quarterback. "It’s just a matter of from a game-planning standpoint, we’re trying to what’s best for the defense, and we’re trying to do what’s best for the team. A week ago, we had five sacks. Blitzing is not always the answer. Sometimes it is, and we understand that. We’re going to try to do what we feel is in the best interest of the defense and the team," said Pasqualoni.