Lions defensive tackle Nick Fairley says the game plan on Sunday is simple: Hit Jay Cutler early and often.
Obviously, every defensive lineman wants to hit every quarterback every week. But Fairley sounds particularly eager about what the Lions can do to Cutler in Sunday’s machup of the first- and second-place teams in the NFC North.
“That’s every week,” Fairley told the Detroit News. “Any quarterback we play, that’s our goal, to hit him early and try to get him off his game. We’ve got a good game plan coming into this one. I think we’re going to be able to do that early.”
Cutler has been sacked just three times in three games this season, putting him on pace for by far the fewest sacks he’s had in any of his seasons in Chicago. Fairley says Cutler is doing a good job of getting his passes off quickly, but the Lions still think they’ll have opportunities to hit him.
“We know coming into this game that they’ll be three steps and getting the ball out real quick,” Fairley said. “As a defensive line, we can’t get down on ourselves. Just continue to rush real hard knowing the one time he holds that ball is the one time we are going to get there and take him down.”
Taking Cutler down is the Lions’ best chance of improving to 3-1 and joining the Bears atop the division.
