Can The Lions Handle Losing Nick Fairley?
By Chris Morgan
The Detroit Lions, to the surprise of many, have had the best defense in the NFL this season. This has been the case even though they lost Stephen Tulloch earlier this season. Fortunately, DeAndre Levy has remained excellent, and Tahir Whitehead has stepped in to replace Tulloch admirably. However, while the Lions secured an improbable win in London last week to move to 6-2 on the season as they enter their bye week, they have suffered another problematic issue on defense. Nick Fairley has hurt his knee, and may not be able to return.
To be fair, Fairley probably is not quite as good as Tulloch as a player, but he has been quite good this year. The defensive line has been excellent, and Fairley has been a part of that. The real issue here is that now the Lions will find their depth at defensive tackle tested. The defensive line needs to be rotated, as men this large can't play snap in and snap out without losing a lot in terms of performance. Ndamukong Suh is still around, obviously, and he remains the focal point of this defense. He's the dominant force in the middle of the line that demands a frequent double team. The question then becomes who will start next to him?
C.J. Mosley is the obvious choice. He's a solid player who has more sacks than Fairley. However, he was also sent home from London due to detrimental conduct. Will he back when the Lions return to action? They could certainly use him. They could also stand to not have him be a problem again, because they need him on the field. The Lions only have one other defensive tackle on the roster, and that is Caraun Reid. Reid is a fifth round rookie out of Princeton. He has potential, but he's raw.
Just having Reid to rotate in for Suh and Mosley doesn't work, and if this has to sustain for the rest of the season, that's problematic for this defensive line. However, there are other options. On pass rushing downs, a larger defensive end can step in at defensive tackle to rush the passer. Jason Jones has played defensive tackle in the past. Additionally, Devin Taylor and rookie Larry Webster are both listed as being 6'7''. They don't have the wait, but on certain downs, that wouldn't necessarily be a problem.
Can the Lions continue to excel on defense if they don't have Fairley? It will be tough, especially if Mosley's status remains up in the air. However, they don't necessarily need to continue to be great. If they took a step back to very good, that should suffice, given their schedule the second half of the season. They still have Suh, and they still have Ziggy Ansah, and that can take them a long way. The defense has been stellar so far, and helped carry an offense that has had its issues and a series of kickers that couldn't, well, kick. If they just take care of business, they should be fine.
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Chris Morgan has been a diehard Detroit Lions fan through the good (Barry Sanders) and the bad (Matt Millen) and that love has led him to take jobs writing about sports, including as a fantasy sports "expert." His work can be found on Examiner.com. .