Entering Week 10, the Detroit Lions have the NFL's second-best scoring offense (29.9 points per game), but in total offense they sit a relatively disappointing 11th (350.8 yards per game). In two of their last three games they have not topped 100 yards rushing or gotten to 310 yards of offense, and their third-down conversion rate for the season is a dismal 25th in the league.
While quarterback Jared Goff word-saladed his way to saying he's not concerned about the Lions' recent offensive issues after the Week 9 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, coaches struck a slightly different chord during the subsequent week as they search for answers.
On Friday, before the Lions take on the Washington Commanders in Week 10, head coach Dan Campbell had some analogies for how close he thinks the Lions' offense is to getting it right.
"It’s just smoke and you see some embers, but you can’t get it lit, and you just need a little oxygen", Campbell said. "That’s what us as coaches (have to do): just give them a little oxygen and they’ll do the rest, this thing will go. So that’s what we’re charged with. I like our plan to this point, and we all have to do our job."
"You’d be shocked by—you tweak one little thing, I’m telling you, you tweak one little thing and all of a sudden it just cleans everything up and it just takes off, and the knock in the engine is gone,” Campbell said. "It’s not as bad as people think it is. And it really doesn’t take much, just a little tightening here.”
Campbell acknowledged how he has said similar things recently, but he's got a deep well of ideas until the offense gets back on track.
"I've got a million ideas. And I believe it’s going to work this week. And if it doesn’t, then I’ve got another idea. I’ve got plenty. We’ll get this thing going."
Did Dan Campbell hint at a bold move to fix the Lions' offense?
Lions' fans have plenty of rightful ire toward first-year offensive offensive coordinator John Morton, and some of what he said during his media availability heading into the game against Washington won't help that one bit.
When Ben Johnson left his post as Lions' offensive coordinator to become the Chicago Bears head coach, Morton quickly surfaced as the top candidate to replace him.
Morton is a very experienced coach, and he was on the Lions' offensive staff in 2022. He then spent the subsequent two years working under Campbell's mentor Sean Payton in Denver. So he was as close to an "internal hire" as an external hire to replace Johnson could've been.
Still, it was possible to question how truly aligned philisophically Morton would be with Campbell. Before the Week 7 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Campbell openly called for running back David Montgomery to get more work.
Game script always impacts how the Lions' backfield is deployed, and Montgomery has 24 carries over the last two games to Jahmyr Gibbs' 26. With a downturn in offensive line play as a factor, the ground game has also not been particularly good lately.
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Via Will Burchfield of 97.1 The Ticket:
"Excluding Jahmyr Gibbs' 78-yard touchdown run in the Lions' Week 7 win over the Buccaneers, Detroit has averaged 3.5 yards per carry over its last five games. That would rank last in the NFL over the course of this season."
In terms of any specific tweak for Sunday's game, Campbell was careful not say too much. But he may have actually said it all.
"Part of it could be with the way the game is called. It could be, maybe rhythm of how you call it,” Campbell said. “It could be what you go to. It could be who you’re trying to get involved.”
Since he fired Anthony Lynn in the middle of his first season as head coach and took over the duties, Campbell has (ostensibly) not been calling the Lions' offensive plays. But he has absolutely maintained a level of influence over the proceedings.
Based on those last comments about the offense on Friday. Campbell taking play-calling away from Morton seems to be on the table if things don't turn around soon.