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Detroit Lions' late defensive additions paying early dividends

Allen Park — Football is football.

That's a common cliche hurled around by NFL coaches and players, but it's disingenuous. While the core elements of the game don't change — running, passing, covering, tackling — there are so many nuances from scheme to scheme, from technique to technique, that it's not easy to plug in a random player off the street and expect them to perform to the same level as a player that's been in a system for multiple years, even if the talent is equal.

But the Detroit Lions have had success with not one, but two late additions to the defense before the start of the season.