Sparing all of us from every little detail, we all know the Detroit Lions let today’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers get away from them. Sure it’s a team game but this loss primarily falls on the Lions offense. It was an odd but also, bad performance from this offense today.
Certainly, nobody should be sounding the alarms, but the reasons for concern right now are valid. No question, everyone has bad days at the office. The Lions offense is allowed to have them, too. That said, it’s consecutive weeks of head-scratching play-calling from offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
Today was by far the worst we’ve seen from him during his tenure in Detroit. The lack of commitment to running the football in this game was odd. In the first half against the Bucs, the Lions had 20 pass attempts, seven rushes and one fake pass attempt. All they had to show for it was six lousy points.
Looking at the Lions 2nd, 3rd and 4th drive in the first half, here’s how they all went:
- 2nd series: 4 pass plays to 1 run play was called. 2 out-of-the final 3 plays inside the Bucs 10-yard line were pass plays. Only one run play was called and it gained 7 yards. Lions settled for a field goal.
- 3rd series: 8 pass plays to 4 run plays were called. 2 out-of-the final 3 plays inside the Bucs 20-yard line were pass plays. Only one run play was called. They gained one yard inside the Bucs 20-yard line despite having 16 yards (4.0 yards per carry) rushing on this drive.
- 4th series: 7 pass plays to 3 run plays were called. Despite converting on 4th down twice, the Lions still had to punt on this drive. When the Lions crossed midfield and were facing 2nd-and-6, they dropped back to pass consecutive times. Both were incomplete. They had gained four yards on the ground from David Montgomery to setup that 2nd-and-6.
Without going full play-by-play from today’s game, it just feels like Ben Johnson was getting away from manageable situations on 2nd and 3rd down. Last season, the Lions seemed content on running the ball to get into 2nd-and-6 or 3rd-and-3, but not in this game. Instead, it felt like Johnson was trying to pick up bigger down and distances all in one play every chance he got.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1835401578234442103
Look at the 4th quarter with under 8 minutes left to play. The Lions are only down four points and are faced with a 2nd-and-16 after a holding call on Frank Ragnow. Rather than trying to get into a more manageable 3rd down situation, the Lions ran deeper routes or had concepts towards the sideline. Nothing was run towards the middle of the field nor was anything open. This led to Goff forcing a throw rather than taking a sack and it ultimately led to an interception.
https://twitter.com/SharpFootball/status/1835409351600656870
If Ben Johnson wasn’t trying to get chunk plays off just one pass, the passing script sure felt forced to start the game. Like I said, Goff had attempted 20 pass attempts in the first half. However, 14 of those pass attempts were intended for Amon-Ra St. Brown or Jameson Williams. Tight end Sam LaPorta didn’t even have a target in the first half.
No doubt, the Lions should get the ball to their playmakers. But with them having so many weapons, it should never be one-sided.
One week removed from only having 28 pass attempts, Goff had 55 pass attempts today. That’s practically double from the Rams game in week one. Keep in mind, those 55 pass attempts were the most Goff has thrown with the Lions since his very first game in Detroit during the 2021 season (57 attempts). You can call me crazy or a hater, but to me, that just can’t happen.
We all know what Goff is at quarterback, but it feels like Johnson is forcing him to be something he’s not. Sure, there’s plenty of football left but it’s been a very odd start to the season for a Lions offense that got so much praise this summer. Sooner rather than later, they’ll need to commit to running the football. If they don’t it could lead to a lack of confidence for the entire offense as this season continues.