DETROIT — Coming out of the bye week, [Detroit Lions](https://www.detroitnews.com/sports/lions/) head coach Dan Campbell called third-down efficiency, or the offense’s lack thereof, the “most glaring” issue that needed fixing.
Coaches spent their week off addressing it, with offensive coordinator John Morton taking a look “at all the third downs” up to that point in the season. His takeaway: It’s a collective issue (ranging from staff to personnel), and “what it boils down to is just execution.”
The [Lions](https://detroitnews.sports.gracenote.com/football/nfl/team/1) certainly didn’t execute well enough in Sunday’s 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, when they converted on 29.4% (5-for-17) of their third downs. Two of those conversions came when the line to gain was 1 yard away, and another came with 3 yards to go. On third-down attempts longer than 3 yards, the Lions went 2-for-13.
“I just know we’ve got to be better, man,” receiver Jameson Williams said.
One of the Lions’ issues was their lack of early-down success. Seventeen third downs faced is a season-high total for the Lions, who came into Sunday averaging a tick over 12 per game. Putting yourself in that many got-to-have-it situations isn’t a recipe for success.
“The fact that we had 17 third downs, that’s crazy,” Campbell said. “That’s a high, high amount of third-down. … Our first- and second-down efficiency has got to be better. I’d start there. Then, yes, the third-down (efficiency) is still an issue.”
Detroit’s average line to gain on third downs was about 7.5 yards. It’s no coincidence three of Minnesota’s five sacks came on third downs; when in obvious passing situations, defenses can send their best pass rushers onto the field and get creative with their scheme.
“We were in third-and-long a lot,” offensive tackle Taylor Decker said. “We’ve got to stay on schedule, that’s going to be the biggest thing. First and second down is going to make third down a lot more manageable. I’m sure it wasn’t every one, but it felt like we were in third-and-8, 9, 10-plus a lot today. Penalties factor into that, too. There were some penalties. It’s going to be hard to hit your success rate that you want on third downs if you’re in third-and-long all the time. You need more third-and-mediums.”
In fairness, there were three instances when the Lions didn’t convert on third down, only to move the chains on fourth down. There was a fourth moment, as well. The Lions didn’t snap the ball, but the offense lined up facing fourth-and-5, and quarterback Jared Goff drew Jonathan Greenard into the neutral zone, triggering a first down.
Even when accounting for those fourth downs, though, what the Lions did on third downs wasn’t good enough, especially when it was such a point of emphasis coming out of the bye week.
“Some of those we went for it on fourth down and got those. We still want to improve, get better,” receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown said. “That’s the name of the game. As long as we continue to get better, we’ll be good. But we’ve got to correct it now, watch the tape and make sure we don’t make the same mistake twice.”
Added Campbell: “We’ve got to clean some things up, but I’m not in panic mode.”