No tight ends? No problem!
Going into Week 17, the Detroit Lions were without their top three tight ends. Rolling with two payers who weren’t even on the team the week before, head coach Dan Campbell had to use some creative playcalling to overcome this setback.
It’s no secret that Campbell has favored bolstering the offensive line whenever possible. The Lions operate with an extra offensive lineman often and during this matchup against Seattle, they utilized both Matt Nelson and Parker Ehinger alongside their starting five linemen at times.
These personnel decisions proved successful on one particular drive for Detroit.
Just five minutes into the third quarter, the Lions recovered an onside kick following a touchdown from rookie receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.
On the first play of the drive, backup quarterback Tim Boyle hit receiver KhaDarel Hodge for a 16 yard gain, but it was unfortunately called back due to a holding penalty committed by right tackle Penei Sewell.
Over the next four plays of the drive, Boyle relied solely on running back Jamaal Williams, who gained 21 yards and two first downs for Detroit.
At a third-and-three, Detroit tried running with D’Andre Swift, but failed to gain yardage and suddenly the team was faced with a fourth-down. Luckily, St. Brown came to the rescue once again, catching a pass from Boyle and taking it 31 yards, all the way down to Seattle’s eight-yard line.
With a first-and-goal, those creative personnel decisions came into fruition.
The Lions rolled out with both Nelson and Ehinger as extra linemen. On the snap, Boyle attempted to hit Nelson on a short out route, but the big man wasn’t able to come away with it.
On the next play, Detroit inched closer to the endzone with a run by Williams, but the play was negated and the offense was penalized 10 yards due to another holding call by Sewell.
Boyle then hit Swift for a six-yard gain and the Lions benefitted from some extra yardage due to a facemask penalty from a Seahawks defender.
And then, just when you thought the Lions were done throwing to offensive linemen, they pulled one more trick from their sleeve.
🚨🚨BIG MAN TD 🚨🚨#DETvsSEA | 📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/g1cbRsKsvP
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) January 2, 2022
It was first-and-goal from the six-yard line. The Lions came out with six offensive linemen, two tight ends, Williams in the backfield, and Tom Kennedy split out wide. Both tight ends and the extra lineman were bunched up on the right side, hinting the Lions may use Williams, their go-to power runner, to punch it in.
The ball is snapped and Boyle sells a fake handoff to Williams. Both tight ends blocked their defenders and Kennedy ran a corner route. Left tackle Taylor Decker laid out a block on the defensive tackle and then broke out for a quick route.
Watching the Seattle defenders, it seems like 6’7″, 318-pound Decker was invisible to them. He ran right past a linebacker who didn’t even look over his way and easily caught the lob pass from Boyle for a touchdown.
Everyone loves seeing offensive linemen make plays on offense, but this was the play of the game for another reason.
The Lions entered the half losing 31-7 to Seattle. The came out in the second half and scored immediately, then recovered an onside kick and found the endzone again.
Everything about this sequence of events just shows that head coach Dan Campbell is adapting to his role. He didn’t have tight ends, so he drew up plays using his linemen. Despite being down 24 points, his squad rallied and put together an impressive comeback attempt, especially given the rough state of the roster that Detroit had going into this game.
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