Hockey / Detroit Lions Losing Streak: Stop Panicking

Detroit Lions Losing Streak: Stop Panicking

Date:  Source: Armchair Report

The Detroit Lions had yet another ugly game on Sunday, and after yet another disappointing loss I was tempted to write that the Lions are dangerously close to me regaining my split sense of anger and stoicism at the poor play displayed yesterday at Ford Field. I have been a Lions fan for years and have learned to not let losses completely ruin my week, though they usually left a bitter taste in my mouth and put me in a bad mood for at least Monday. This feels different though. For one, I was never fully in a bad mood about it. Looking at the NFC standings and seeing the Lions still holding a Wild Card playoff spot helps a lot, as does the idea that this team is better than their last two games, and a large part of it is on the coaches, specifically Offensive Coordinator Scott Linehan.

 
The Lions have been offensively terrible (choose which definition of offensively you want to read there) in the first half of games this season. QB Matt Stafford has thrown 6 touchdowns and 4 interceptions in the first half of games, and 10 touchdowns to no interceptions in the second half. His completion percentage goes from 59 in the first half to over 61 in the second half, and QB rating goes from 81 to 110. As one would assume, WR Calvin Johnson has just 3 first half touchdowns, and 7 second half touchdowns. He has fewer first half receptions than he does in the second half and more yards after halftime as well. Going down the list, nearly everyone on the Lions offense is better in the second half, and it comes down to one simple fact, Linehan out coaches himself.
 
Linehan does not call plays in Johnson's direction nearly as much in the first half as the second half of games. He tries to use Johnson just as a decoy before halftime to get the rest of the team going and attempt to get single coverage on him through the success of the other players. The issue here is that the Lions offense feeds off of the space that Johnson's success creates, and until he beats the other team, that space is not there. Until the deep completion to Johnson happens the safeties stay in, which allows the linebackers to stay closer to the line. The "box" is more cluttered until Stafford starts throwing deep to Johnson, then the defense backs off a bit. Once they do that, Brandon Pettigrew and Jahvid Best (or Maurice Morris or Keiland Williams) have room to make things happen in the middle, which will again open Johnson up late.
 
 When the Lions are focused on screens, runs, and short passes, the only thing that is open is the deep throw to Johnson, but Linehan is not comfortable going for that early in games. The deep routes are generally high risk/high reward type plays, unless you have a player like Johnson. He not only can get over everyone to make spectacular catches, but he also has the presence of mind to break up potential interceptions very well. This should be a play the Lions look at on the first drive every game, if for no other reason than to remind the other team how easily Johnson can make a big play happen.
 
The only obvious reason for Linehan to not be calling this play is the offensive line. After going through a killer DE stretch of Jared Allen, Demarcus Ware, and Julius Peppers, it looks like Jeff Sackus, sorry Backus, is exhausted and cannot keep up. John Abrams and Aldon Smith are great players, but they should not be running past Backus they was they have in the last two games. Stafford has not had time to make accurate deep throws, he just has to throw it up and let Johnson go get it. Good part is, Johnson is great at that, they just need to run it more often.
 
The Red Zone offense is also becoming a problem because Linehan and Stafford have gotten too cute. They know Johnson will be double or triple teamed, so they look to Pettigrew too often. If they learned anything from the San Francisco game it should have been that Pettigrew can be covered by a single linebacker in the endzone. Every time Detroit gets inside the 20 there should be at least one jump ball thrown to Johnson, but there is not. The Lions ran just four plays in the red zone against the Falcons and two of them went to Johnson, but both were short passes designed for Yards After the Catch. Why not throw up a deep ball to the corner and tell Johnson to go for it. The play calling the last two weeks has been mystifying to anyone that has watched Johnson play this year. He needs to be option number 1, not option number 1 once we are losing and need to make a comeback. 
 
The point here is, this two game losing streak is not the end of the world for the Detroit Lions. It is not the "same ol' same ol'" team that was perennially an NFL laughing stock. This is not the "circus" that we fans have been so used to. The Lions are beating themselves, against teams they should beat (not to disrespect the 49ers, but the Lions should have won that game). This is a team that is learning how to make small adjustments rather than sweeping adjustments, learning to do their job rather than having to do more than that to win games. This is still a good football team that has a great chance at the playoffs. They just need to start looking to Johnson earlier and more often.
 
Oh and to the fans at Ford Field: the Detroit Lions being at 5-2 should not be booed. They played two bad games, yes, but how does that make the players feel? Does that make them want to try harder for the sake of the fans? Or does that harbor resentment that their fans do not appreciate what they have accomplished in this still young season. Calm down, have another beer, enjoy that the Lions are in the thick of the playoff hunt in late October, it has been awhile.