How to fix Detroit’s stalled offense

And no it’s not benching Stafford for Jake Rudock.

The Detroit Lions offense was supposed to be a superpower this season. This season a revamped Jim Bob Cooter offense was supposed to be amazing. Instead, heading into Week 5 the offense is stalled. And one player that still can’t figure anything out is Golden Tate.

Tate has been a vital piece to this offense over the past two seasons, so getting him going again should turn them back into a well-oiled machine. Sure, some people think he should be benched, or every traded, but I think the best way to utilize Tate is by putting him in the slot.

Earlier this season I talked about the addition of Anquan Boldin, and what he brings to Detroit. His veteran leadership and toughness are still great for the team. Moving Tate inside would allow for Boldin to still have that impact, just on a different area of the field.

Now I can’t remember seeing Anquan line up on the outside once this year, and placing Tate on the interior puts him in a spot that works best with his skillset and size. On the outside, Tate faces bigger corners, who’s skillset trump him. But as a slot guy those matchups are much different.

If Tate went into the slot he’ll face smaller cornerbacks or be matched up with a linebacker. The linebacker situation is the glaring issue with Boldin right now. His lack of speed allows for a linebacker to shadow him in pass coverage without much trouble. Last week I watched as Boldin struggled to get separation on countless crossing routes. Needless to say, moving him outside should keep him from having to use his “speed” more often.

On the outside, Boldin could run short routes that don’t require him to cross the field every play. If he was simply breaking for a curl or a double move he would be much more effective than only being open in a zone coverage pocket.

And having Tate in the slot could give this offense a field day in the middle of the field. There are a few great coverage linebackers in the league. This forces teams to bring a slot corner in, where Tate will take advantage of due to his hard running style. Over the last two seasons, Tate has racked up YAC just due to how hard it is for one player to bring him down.

Another reason a slot corner coming in helps the offense is to keep the offense from seeing a base set so often. Without Abdullah or Dwayne Washington, Detroit needs to make sure that a shifty back like Theo Riddick, gets the ball in as much space as possible. Since linebackers can cover Boldin with ease teams can keep in their base alignment. One less guy in or near the box just gives Riddick that much more room to create highlights.

This offense has a lot of talent, but the way they have it set up isn’t working to it’s potential. This slight change allows the Lions to get the most out of both these players. And more importantly, get the JBC offense back to the level it was at last season.

Golden Tate is a very talented player. So before everybody gets their pitchforks ready and thinks of mock trade scenarios, let’s see what else we can do to make him, and the offense, more effective. Because the last thing the Lions need is another ex-player having the game of his life against them.