The goal is to always make an offense one dimensional, but in the case of the Detroit Lions, it isn't easy to do, and the alternative isn't all that attractive, either. If you haven't paid attention to the star power that Detroit brings to town, here are some names to remember: Running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, a backfield tandem that mixes game-breaking plays (Gibbs as both a runner and receiver) and a power ground game (Montgomery); tight end Sam LaPorta, who has 40 receptions and three touchdowns to go along with 489 receiving yards; wide receivers Amon Ra-St. Brown, who has 64 catches for 693 yards and eight touchdowns, and speedster Jameson Williams, who just torched Washington with six receptions for 119 yards and a touchdown. He averages 17.6 yards per catch.
So, how do you stop the Lions? The ideal scenario is to stop the run and attack Goff, but the Lions have a tremendous offensive line that is athletic and powerful and has chemistry and is very well coached.
This one, Eagles fans, is perhaps the greatest test to date this season for an Eagles defense coming off a bravo performance in Monday night's 10-7 win over the Green Bay Packers. Head coach Dan Campbell started calling the offensive plays for the Lions in last week's win over Washington, and it worked: Detroit averaged a whopping 8.0 yards per play in the 44-22 victory.
"They had (448) yards [last week], and about half of it was running and half of it was passing, so they were really good," defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. "They got a lot of talent on that side of the ball. They got the best O-line in the league, a quarterback, according to Dan (Campbell), playing the best he's ever played, two good running backs, the receivers are all fast – it's a good unit to be calling plays for."