Detroit Lions must do more to protect Matthew Stafford against the Saints

Quarterback has been sacked 12 times in last 2 games

Granted, the Lions have played top-notch defensive fronts the last two weeks in the Vikings and Panthers. Still it’s no excuse to allow quarterback Matthew Stafford to be sacked six times in each of those games.

The law of averages says that one time he won’t be able to get up.

Stafford did injure an ankle late in Sunday’s loss to the Panthers, but was able to have full practices this week which is a good sign he’ll be ready to go on Sunday in New Orleans.

Still, the sacking has to be limited. The Saints’ defense has sacked quarterbacks 11 times in four games with Cameron Jordan leading with three of the 11.

For the Lions, it’s too simplistic to put all the blame on the offensive line. Part of it is on them, but tight ends, running backs and wide receivers need to improve their blocking. And Stafford has to make sure he’s not holding onto the ball too long.

When Stafford is being pressured on play after play it obviously takes a toll on the offense.

“Anytime a defensive line can get penetration whether it’s in the pass game or the run game, I think it’s a positive for the defense,’’ Stafford said. “You always want to play on their side of the line of scrimmage if you possibly can on offense, and that’s in the run game and the pass game, and anytime they’re in the back field, it’s a disruption to really any play you have going.”

Wide receiver Golden Tate sees if from a little different perspective.

“When you look back and a couple times a game or, however many times a game, you see a quarterback scrambling and kind of subconsciously you start breaking routes off earlier, you start getting away from the details,’’ Tate said. “That’s one thing we have to continue to do is focus on those details and not cut off routes early because we feel there might be pressure. We’ve just got to keep doing our job and get it all figured out.

“When there’s pressure on Matt it makes everyone feel uncomfortable. For sure it makes everyone feel they have to do something extra which is when you really get in trouble. We’ve seen it in the past when Matt is comfortable back there and he has time, he can go through all his reads correctly. He throws a great ball and we march down the field. If you look back to last game when we were scoring at the end of the game we were just marching down the field. We weren’t doing anything really different, just protecting him a little more.

“I guess he had one leg in that game as he led us down for two big touchdowns and I feel if we got the ball back we would’ve scored again. We all have to do our part,’’ Tate said.

The Lions beefed up the offensive line in the offseason with right tackle Rick Wagner and right guard T.J. Lang. Then left tackle Taylor Decker tore up his shoulder in June. He could be ready to return within weeks which will help. Greg Robinson has struggled filling in for Decker.

“We just haven’t done as good a job as we’d like to. The thing about it though is you can’t, as I mentioned the other day, you can’t point to just one aspect and say, ‘It’s a protection issue.’ And that covers a lot of ground. So, yeah it’s our job to get it fixed,’’ Caldwell said. “Right now we’re not protecting as well as we’d like or doing the little things that keeps us out of sack situations often enough.”

Something’s got to give: Lions create turnovers, Saints excel at ball security

Detroit has 11 takeaways in 5 games

ALLEN PARK — Something’s got to give when the Lions play the Saints on Sunday in New Orleans.

The Lions’ defense has 11 takeaways in five games — seven interceptions and four fumble recoveries.

Meanwhile the Saints have yet to commit a turnover. Quarterback Drew Brees has thrown eight touchdowns and zero interception. No fumbles.

“There’s a lot of things going right for you not to have at least one turnover. I haven’t watched every play of every (Saints) game, turnovers happen for all different reasons. Guys drop a pass or tip a pass and it gets intercepted. It could be a good throw, the guy just maybe didn’t hold onto it right or a running back gets ahead and fumbles,’’ Lions safety Glover Quin said. “Just because you fumble doesn’t mean it’s a turnover. The other team has to cover it. There’s a lot of factors that go into getting a turnover and not getting a turnover.’’

Quin should know. So far in five games he has a pair of interceptions and two forced fumbles.

Ball security has been an emphasis in Detroit. The Lions have given up just two — an interception by Matthew Stafford in the opener and a lost fumble in the loss to the Panthers.

Apparently Saints coach Sean Payton has made it a priority also.

“I hope it’s our overall awareness and I hope we’re doing a better job coaching it and I hope that as we get into games, you’re trying to not to be one-dimensional. I think that there’s times when you fall behind early in the season against Minnesota. The last it seemed like eight, 10 minutes we were in a hurry-up pass mode,’’ Payton said in a conference call on Wednesday. “But I think that probably for him (Drew Brees) I know (ball security) was (key) going into the season. A goal of us collectively as a team, possessing the ball better on offense, and helping our defense with a little bit more balance, and yet still recognizing how we want to play each game.”

The Saints could be due for a turnover or two.

“Hopefully the law of averages will prevail, hopefully (the Saints) are due to catch up,’’ Quin said.

It’s just another challenge for the Lions’ defense.

“I don’t think there’s any remedy for what they do. They take care of the ball. They just have not turned it over at all, I think they’re right around where we are in terms of turnover ratio, so you’re going to have a battle of two teams that haven’t turned it over very much, and so that’s going to be really I think the difference in the ball game,’’ coach Jim Caldwell said. “But, it’s an area that we have continued to work on. We work on taking it away, we work on taking care of it, and they do the same thing and they’ve done a great job at it thus far.”

Detroit Lions’ Eric Ebron has support of his teammates

Tight end continues to work hard to improve

ALLEN PARK — If Eric Ebron wasn’t working hard, his Lions’ teammates would be concerned. That is not the case.

Wide receiver Golden Tate said he expects Ebron will have a career type game “real soon.”

The tight end has had issues holding onto the ball, especially in Sunday’s loss to the Panthers  when he was targeted four times and had one catch. On the opening drive he dropped a third-down pass in the end zone.

Ebron met with Matthew Stafford to figure out what he can do better.

“I’ll keep that between Eric and I. I don’t feel like I need to share that with you guys,’’ Stafford said on Wednesday. “But he’s a guy that’s really talented that can help us, and he’s got to continue to work hard and continue to try to improve just like everybody.”

In the first five games Ebron has a dozen catches for 93 yards.

In Week 2, he was targeted five times and caught all five for 42 yards and a touchdown.

“I think the best thing to do is to know when you ball out, the social media will be there to praise you. The next week if you don’t ball out they’ll be right there to tear you down. It’s kind of a what have you done for me lately kind of deal,’’ wide receiver Golden Tate said on Wednesday.

“I just want to remind him, ‘Hey, you’re a heck of a player, you’re here for a reason. We need you in order to go where we want to go. All we want you to do is keep working hard, keep working hard, be mentally strong, understand your assignment and just keep growing,’’ Tate said.

“We understand mistakes are a part of this game but us bashing him — or anyone in this organization — is not going to help us. Our job is to build each other up and keep working, keep working together, it’s going to come around,’’ Tate added. “He’s here for a reason and he knows that, he’s a heck of a player, he’s shown time in and time out in practice that he deserves to be here. We keep supporting him, keep working together.

“The problem would be if any player is messing up consistently but not out here working, not trying to get better but you don’t see that from him,’’ Tate said. “He wants this bad. He knows how good he is, sometimes you need to be reminded of that.’’

Coach Jim Caldwell was thinking along those same lines when he commented on Ebron’s play on Monday.

“There’s a lot of folks that have a bad game or a bad stretch. And he’s got talent. He works at it, and it’s our job to get it out of him,’’ Caldwell said.