Quandre Diggs is one of the most interesting players on the Detroit Lions roster. He was drafted by the Lions in the sixth round of the 2015 draft and was initially slotted in as a nickel corner. An injury crisis in Detroit’s defensive backfield led to him moving to safety in 2017 and the move rejuvenated his career. The defensive back measures in at a small 5-foot-8 Jalen Reeves-Maybin Jersey White , 200 pounds yet has still managed to make his name as one of the team’s hardest hitters. While he is still listed as a cornerback, he plays more as a run defending safety. Diggs takes a majority of his snaps as the defense’s last man and uses his deep positioning to read the play in front of him and come flying up field to make a play. On this play in the second quarter of the Lions’ Week 8 game against the Seattle Seahawks he is the deepest man on defense. Diggs watches the quarterback from his deep positioning and spots the hand off to running back Mike Davis on the read option. He quickly gets into the gap Davis wanted, then as the running back cuts into a different gap Diggs is right there with him. The safety eventually teams up with linebacker Jarrad Davis to stop the run for a short gain.Everything Diggs does from his deep safety spot hinges on his ability to diagnose plays. While one would imagine a player who usually lines up that deep would be focused on the pass, Diggs is usually focused on stopping the run first. His ability to quickly recognize plays, combined with how fast he is, allows him to quickly cover ground and stuff plays before they can get going. While majority of the plays he makes are against the run his ability to quickly fly up field and undercut runners is valuable against the short passing game as well. Diggs is lined up as a box safety on this play. He drops back to cover the left out, leaving the flat open beneath him. Davis leaks out there and quarterback Russell Wilson flings him the ball as he attempts to escape the pressure. There are around 7 yards between Diggs and Davis when the pass is thrown. The defender manages to cover the space in what seems like a split second and cut down Davis for 0 yards after catch. The safety can cover ground incredibly fast due to the combination of his speed and acceleration. He is like a cannonball once he takes off but he is not agile enough to have any room for error. Diggs is great at barreling towards a target in a straight line, but his tackles can easily by dodged or broken by a ball carrier with great anticipation.On this play, Diggs is back in his deep safety spot. Wilson hands the ball off to running back Chris Carson out of the backfield. Carson first dodges a tackle from Davis. Once the runner gets to the second level Diggs has a clear run at him and takes off. Carson reads his approach, though, and is able to throw off his tackle angle with a quick move. Diggs whiffs on the tackle attempt and is lucky that corner Darius Slay is right there to clean up the play for him. Diggs still needs a lot of work fixing his tackle angles and actually wrapping up ball carriers.The Lions also run into an interesting problem when it comes to deploying Diggs on the field. The safety is a run stuffer. Usually a run stuffing safety will want to line up in the box, Diggs’ small size and relative lack of strength makes this a problem for him though.via GfycatDiggs is lined up in the box on this play. Seattle’s tight end—who in Diggs’ defense is actually a sixth offensive lineman—is assigned to take Diggs out of the play with a reach block. The defender stands no chance and gets bullied out of the play without making any impact. He has no idea how to shed blocks it seems, and his small frame leaves him helpless when a blocker gets to him at the second level. Detroit usually tries to avoid this situation by allowing him to lineup as a deep safety. This creates two additional problems, though.First, if Diggs is lines up as a center fielder, then someone else has to take his place on the inside. Detroit usually lines up with five defensive backs on the field and one has to be in the box to adequately provide run support. Glover Quin is usually the one who gets stuck with the job, but he is not the best against the run and has been an awful box safety this season. They could put an additional linebacker on the field, but Detroit’s linebackers are not very good. Tavon Wilson Womens Quandre Diggs Jersey , the guy who lost his job to Diggs, is an option as well. Wilson is a good run defender but not very good in pass coverage. Having Diggs and Wilson on the field together seems redundant and leaves the team vulnerable against the pass. Diggs is not very good in man coverage no matter where he lines up as he does not have the ball-playing skills needed to make up for his lack of size.The defensive back lines up across tight end Ed Dickson in the slot on this play. Dickson has nine inches and 50 pounds on Diggs, and he easily beats him for a touchdown on a corner route. The undersized safety stands no chance and his poor ball-playing skills that have haunted him all season rear their head here. Diggs coverage struggles also exist when he plays in deeper zones, creating the second issue with having him lineup so deep pre-snap. If the safety lines up as the deepest man, then he will usually have to take a deep zone in coverage. This puts a huge target on the undersized defensive back. While he is great at handling passes thrown in front of him he is not very good when he is required to backpedal into coverage as his missile-like qualities do not really translate. While Diggs is fine at what he does, he probably is not a reliable starting strong safety going forward. He is a great run defender with an obvious deficiency that limits where he can be used.This is where rookie safety Tracy Walker can come into play. The third-round pick is an extremely raw prospect but he has a lot of potential. He has the size and measurables that Diggs lacks and can be a force as a box safety. Walker can potentially cover tight ends man-to-man and drop back into deep zone coverage. His tacking and run defense needs work but he there is a path for him to develop into the team’s starting strong safety next season. While this would marginalize the role Diggs plays, it would also let him become a true specialist who is on the field during specific packages. Similar to how the Lions used Miles Killebrew before he fell off the face of the earth. For now, though, Diggs is a good player with some glaring flaws. He is not the stand-out strong safety he looked like he could become at some points last season, but he is great run defender and is not a total mess in coverage—something that can not be said of other Lions defensive backs. Looking to build off of two solid performances against the Packers and Dolphins, the Detroit Lions had a huge letdown game in Detroit, as the Seattle Seahawks controlled the game from front to back. With three turnovers and no running game, the Lions looked outmatched on their way to a 28-14 defeat. Here’s how it happened. First quarterThe Lions defense was out to start the game, and while Damon Harrison Sr. wasn’t in there to start—ending his 87-game starting streak—his impact would be felt almost immediately. After giving up to medium-sized runs, “Snacks” entered the game and quickly shut down Seattle’s rushing attack. The Seahawks would get to midfield before punting the ball away when Romeo Okwara picked up a sack on third down. The Lions methodically worked their way to midfield in a slow-paced drive. Facing a tough third-and-10, Matthew Stafford somehow avoided pressure and unleashed a bomb to Marvin Jones Jr. for a 39-yard touchdown. 7-0 Lions.Watch the magician pull this rabbit out of a hat:The Seahawks would answer with an impressive drive. Quickly they worked their way into Lions territory as the first quarter came to an end.Second quarterOn the second play into the next quarter, Russell Wilson dialed a deep ball of his own. Nevin Lawson was toe-to-toe with Tyler Lockett, but Lockett found separation at the last second and hauled in a 24-yard touchdown to tie up the game. 7-7.Ameer Abdullah was back to return a line-drive kick. After getting past the 30-yard line Barry Sanders Jersey , Abdullah took a big hit and coughed up the ball, giving Seattle excellent field position. Three plays later, Wilson found David Moore in tight coverage with Teez Tabor for the 15-yard score. 14-7 Seahawks. The Lions were able to work their way to midfield on the next possession thanks to an unexpected, but successful, screen to LeGarrette Blount. From there, though, the drive stalled and Detroit was forced to punt the ball back to the Seahawks. It looked the Lions were about to force a punt, but a review ruled a deep catch to Moore complete, extending Seattle’s drive. The Seahawks would have all sorts of success running the ball before working their way into the red zone. Seattle would cap the drive with yet another contested-catch touchdown. This time Ed Dickson elevated over Quandre Diggs—who was in a perfect position—for the score. 21-7 Seahawks.The Lions, only on their third possession of the game, couldn’t get anything going for a two-plus minute drill. Thankfully, a good Sam Martin punt pinned the Seahawks deep, preventing them from attempting to score any more points before the half. The two teams would head into the locker room with the score 21-7 Seahawks.Third quarterThe Lions didn’t go three-and-out to start the second half, but they didn’t much better. After a 12-yard pass to Kenny Golladay—his first target of the game—the Lions couldn’t manage another first down. Stafford was sacked on a third-and-2, and Detroit quickly gave the ball back to the Seahawks.Thanks to another big play from Lions-tormenter Ed Dickson, it looked like the Seahawks were about to put this game away. However, Seattle went for it on fourth-and-goal, and thanks to an illegal touch penalty http://www.lionslockerroom.com/authentic-zach-zenner-jersey , the Lions made a stop and got the ball back on their own 1-yard line. The Lions were able to get out of the shadow of their own end zone, but, once again, they stalled right around midfield. Detroit would end up punting the ball back to Seattle with 3:16 left in the third quarter, but at least we got this play from Kerryon Johnson.Fourth quarterThe Lions defense continued to struggle into the final quarter of the game. Faced with a couple of huge third downs, the Lions couldn’t get off the field, and it was only a matter of time before Wilson hit on another huge play. He did, dropping a 45-yard pass right into the hands of Moore, with Teez Tabor a good two steps behind him. Chris Carson would punch it in on the very next play. 28-7 Seahawks.Going no-huddle, the Lions offense dinked and dunked their way down into Seattle territory. To cap the drive Stafford laid a perfect pass to Marvin Jones Jr. for an 19-yard strike. The drive only took 3:43 off the clock, giving the Lions some hope to stay in this game, but they’d need some help from their defense to get back in it. 28-14 Seahawks. The defense at least gave them a shot late. Needing a big third-and-1 stop, the Lions defense got one, thanks to a huge tackle from Jarrad Davis. Unfortunately, the Lions offense couldn’t make anything of it. After a couple big plays, Stafford scrambled and dropped the ball for Detroit’s second turnover of the game, and essentially putting an end to any realistic fourth-quarter heroics.Detroit’s defense did respond with another three-and-out, but it was too little too late. The Lions were gifted a 56-yard pass interference penalty Womens Golden Tate III Jersey , but Stafford blew it with a goal-line interception, and the even the most optimistic fans were exiting the stadium.The loss drops the Lions to 3-4 on the season, and perhaps more importantly, they’re just 1-3 in the conference, with losses to potential contenders—the Seahawks and Cowboys. These are the kind of losses that could really hurt come Wild Card playoff runs, but the Lions need to play better overall if they even want a chance to compete for a postseason spot. PregameToday, the Lions celebrate homecoming, as they will induct new members into their Lions Pride class. On the field, they’ll be facing a Seattle Seahawks team that is as hungry as they are. The Seahawks will be full strength, coming off their bye as healthy as can be expected this deep into the season. The Lions, too, are fairly healthy, but they’ll be missing Ezekiel Ansah for the sixth straight game.Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia likes to say that you only have 16 games to prove your worth in the NFL, so every week counts the same. It’s a nice cliche—and technically he’s right—but the Lions’ Week 8 game is going to be quite the measuring stick for a team that has shown some clear inconsistencies through six games.From 1990-2013, teams with a 4-3 record made the playoffs 50 percent of the time. On the other hand, teams with a 3-4 record made the playoffs just 19 percent of the time. If those odds hold true in today’s NFL, Sunday’s game could mean a whole lot more than just 1/16th of a season. Detroit has just one conference win so far, and heading into Week 9 with losses to the Cowboys and Seahawks could make it very hard for this team to compete for a Wild Card spot down the line. It all starts with the Seattle Seahawks Damon Harrison Jersey , who have also climbed out of a slow start to pull themselves to .500 by Week 8. Seattle has survived the dismantling of the “Legion of Boom” and oddly turned Russell Wilson into a pocket passer. Still, Seattle is winning games like they always seemed to have: with a running game and a defense. However, the Lions pose a pretty good threat to both of those things. While Detroit’s run defense has been one of the worst in the league through the first two months of the season, they just added one of the best run stuffers in the league by trading for Damon Harrison Sr. As for the Lions offense, they just seem to be hitting their stride now. So here’s how to tune into this Week 8 important showdown between two NFC foes: How to watch Lions-SeahawksDate: Sunday, October 28, 2018Time: 1 p.m. ETLocation: Ford Field—Detroit, MITV: FOX Week 8 TV Map: Courtesy of 506 Sports hereAnnouncers: Kevin Kugler, Ronde Barber, Chris Spielman, Shannon SpakeOnline streaming: Fox Sports Go, Yahoo Sports appLocal radio: WJR-AM NEWS TALK 760Radio announcers: Dan Miller, Lomas BrownOdds: Lions by 3
