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Matt Patricia continues to take a heaping dose of criticism as the Detroit Lions’ head coach. And he deserves it. But he’s not the only Lions coach who is struggling with poor performances and baffling game plans.
Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell is also having a rotten season. And his collective work in the last two games, a 20-0 shutout loss in Carolina and a 41-25 beating by Houston where the Lions scored the final TD to make it closer, are a good example of why Bevell’s offense deserves its share of the blame.
Specifically, Bevell continues to abandon what is working early in games. The old coaching axiom of “keeping going with what’s working” is a concept Bevell clearly doesn’t understand. And it’s ruining his offense.
Take T.J. Hockenson’s Thanksgiving as an example. The Lions ran the offense through Hockenson in the first quarter and it worked great. Hockenson caught three passes on three targets, netting 78 yards in the first quarter. All of that came on the opening drive, which the Lions capped with a TD. Hockenson’s tremendous start set a Lions team record for a tight end in any first quarter ever, and it’s also the most any tight end has in a first quarter across the entire NFL this season.
Hockenson’s line the rest of the game: two receptions on five targets, 11 receiving yards. He saw exactly one pass target on the Lions’ next nine possessions after that first drive. Those drives produced more turnovers (3) than scores (2).
It wasn’t just Hockenson who faded into oblivion in Bevell’s offense. Running back Kerryon Johnson had a productive first half, becoming just the fifth in franchise history to log at least 30 rushing yards and 50 receiving yards in the first half of a game.
After the half, Johnson got three carries for 14 yards and did not see another pass thrown in his direction.
The bizarre obsession Bevell has with going away from what is working early in games is sadly not a fresh Thanksgiving turkey. It’s a leftover that’s been growing mold in the back of the fridge for far too long.
The Lions have a very telling breakout of points per quarter in 2020.
| Points Scored (through Week 12) | NFL Rank (through Week 11) | |
| 1st | 69 | 8th |
| 2nd | 64 | 25th |
| 3rd | 47 | 19th |
| 4th | 72 | 24th |
They go from being a top-10 productive offense in the first quarter to a below-average (at best) scoring offense in the remaining three, relative to the NFL’s scoring trends.
That happened with Bevell in 2019 too. Detroit ranked 6th in first-quarter scoring last season, following that up with quarter scoring rankings of 25th (second), 25th (third) and 25th (fourth). In short, this is an ugly trend under Bevell.
To twist the coaching axiom from above, it’s probably a good idea to stop doing what isn’t working over and over again. Bevell’s offensive scripting, or lack thereof, after the first quarter is one of the Lions’ bigger issues to fix.
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