Gunther Cunningham, Defensive Coordinator: Performance Review for 2011 Season

**Mike** · 01-08-2012, 10:11 PM

I would like us to take a business approach to rationally assess Gunther's job in charge of the Lions defense. I think it would be reasonable to include the following categories (feel free to add any I may have missed):

Run Defense (e.g. Opponents Rushing Yards Per Carry)
Pass Defense (e.g. Opponents Pass Completion %)
3rd Down Defense (getting off the field)
Opponent's Time of Possession
Red Zone Defense
QB Pressures (Sacks, Passes knocked down)
Tackles for Loss
Interceptions, Passes Defended
Forced Fumbles/Fumble Recoveries
Defensive Penalties (Pre-snap and Post-snap included)
Points Allowed while Defense was on the field
Points Allowed in last 2:00 of the half (1st & 2nd)
Opponents Yards Allowed after the catch
Missed Tackles

You may grade by letter (A through F) or
by point system (0-10 ) (10 being the best; 0 being the worst)

**cruzer1** · 01-09-2012, 01:09 AM

It's clearly subjective due to injuries/personnel.

**Edman85** · 01-09-2012, 07:44 AM

Again, most advanced metrics (WPA, ePA, DVOA, etc.) have the Lions defense being above average (roughly 8th-12th) over the course of the season and elite the first half of the season. The injuries and lack of secondary depth hurt the team down the stretch.

**RedRamage** · 01-09-2012, 08:02 AM

Originally Posted by cruzer1

It's clearly subjective due to injuries/personnel.

This... and...

Originally Posted by Edman85

Again, most advanced metrics (WPA, ePA, DVOA, etc.) have the Lions defense being above average (roughly 8th-12th) over the course of the season and elite the first half of the season. The injuries and lack of secondary depth hurt the team down the stretch.

This.

Also, I would explain the drop off in the second half being due to better competition as well. Especially those first five games.

I think part of the problem when looking at the defense was that we were so dominating in the beginning of the year. We wanted to see that carried through, and it obviously didn't happen. Add in that we faced the Saint... probably the best offense in the game right now... in the playoffs and it made our defense look even worse.

Final point I want to make: How many weeks ago was it that many of us (myself included) were calling for Linehan to be fired/replaced?

EDIT TO ADD: That's not to say that examine the Defense and trying to determine if Cunningham is the right guy isn't a good thing to do. I believe that it should be done. I just also believe that the defense isn't all that bad and where it is bad the Lions suffered injuries or weren't strong from the get go. We all expected the secondary to be bad I think.

**DTroppens** · 01-09-2012, 11:14 AM

Injuries and competition have killed the defense. And topping it, the one area where the Lions were supposed to be strong where you think they'd offset at least a little of that stuff - the defensive line - hasn't been very effective for a good chunk of the second half of the season. That was supposed to be the D's strength, and it didn't step up when the Lions needed it to. Saturday's game was a perfect case of that. We knew NO's could dice up the back seven. We knew the NO OLine was strong. We know they have a great QB. But any equation of the Lions beating NO involved that defensive line creating a disruption with that passing game (and not necessarily with sacks, but just hurries or even batting some balls) involved the DLine winning at least 20-25% of the plays in some form or another. They didn't come close to that. And compounding matters, they couldn't stop the run either. I know LBers make the tackles (yadda, yadda, yadda, so don't say that), but the defensive line was getting blown out so bad, the LBers were attempting to make tackles on backs that hadn't been touched or slown down in any way shape or form.

If there's an area I think anyone on the defensive side could be held reasonably accountable on the coaching staff it would be with that DLine and not finding a way for what should be a talented unit to be more effective, specifically down the stretch.

**Motor City Sonics** · 01-09-2012, 02:19 PM

I not only think Cunningham should stay....I think he is a GREAT DC. He needs better personnel.

**DrWho17** · 01-09-2012, 03:17 PM

Originally Posted by Motor City Sonics

I not only think Cunningham should stay....I think he is a GREAT DC. He needs better personnel.

Why? I mean he doesn't have any signature scheme or philosophy (they ran 3-4 in KC). This is a Schwartz schemed defense, with GC managing it, and the results weren't that great as mentioned by the previous poster. They didn't get that much pressure. One thing I will say, I think Suh is poor vs. the run, Fairley is better against the run.

**Motor City Sonics** · 01-09-2012, 03:26 PM

Gunther's players were in position to make plays all night. He is not the one that missed the tackles, he is not the one that dropped sure interceptions.

**Motor City Sonics** · 01-09-2012, 03:28 PM

I think the coaching staff just needs to stay the same. Maybe a change with Special Teams, but not much else.

**Cylander** · 01-09-2012, 03:36 PM

The Lions only blitzed 10% of the time. It's simple mathematics. 4 rushers against 5 blockers (plus any backs or a TE) is not going to allow for consistent pressure on the QB. Even with the Lions calling some of the fewest blitzes in the league, they still ranked top 10 in the NFL in sacks. They also play a wide 9 that has been gashed in the running game all year. I would like to see the team bring in Steve Spagnuolo who has success working with teams with good front sevens.

**cruzer1** · 01-09-2012, 03:39 PM

Originally Posted by Cylander

The Lions only blitzed 10% of the time. It's simple mathematics. 4 rushers against 5 blockers (plus any backs or a TE) is not going to allow for consistent pressure on the QB. Even with the Lions calling some of the fewest blitzes in the league, they still ranked top 10 in the NFL in sacks. They also play a wide 9 that has been gashed in the running game all year. I would like to see the team bring in Steve Spagnuolo who has success working with teams with good front sevens.

Schwartz won't do that. It's Schwartz's system. If you don't like the defense, then I guess you'd prefer Spags over Schwartz as the HC.

**Cylander** · 01-09-2012, 03:42 PM

Great so lets fire Cunningham since he obviously means nothing to the team.

**Dawgs** · 01-10-2012, 07:08 AM

Better back 7 = more blitzing. Our back 7 gets torched when we blitz.

Better LBs makes the wide 9 more effective. The LBs we have are average to suck. This is why our run D sucks. The LBs are undersized, poor shedding blocks, poor tackling and over run too many plays. IMO the weakest unit on the team, by far.

Gunthers fine. Not his fault the LBs suck.

**Sven Draconian** · 01-10-2012, 01:15 PM

There was nothing GC did to lose his job.

The Lions defense was poor in the second half of the season. They weren't historically bad. They weren't exceptionally bad against below average competition. They got tagged by two of the best teams in the league (GB, NOLA). Otherwise they were solid.

Changing the schemes and the types of players we are going after isn't going to make anything better. Lets keep building on a decent foundation of defensive players (Fairley, Suh, Delmas, Tulloch, Houston).