Detroit Lions: Offensive foundation crumbling before us

Running backs

Later, Kerryon Johnson would suffer a knee injury as well. Likely, he avoided a serious injury, but he was out for the game against the Chicago Bears; maybe more. LeGarrette Blount has been on a downward spiral majority of the season with the low yardage totals. It was to a point everyone wanted him off the team.

With adversity against him, he showed up big with Johnson’s absence; running for two touchdowns against the Bears. The Lions might want to take in slow with Johnson’s injury. With his injury history and high usage at Auburn and considering their playoff hopes are all but gone; they need him to be fully healthy next season.

If anyone who was going to benefit from the Golden Tate trade it was going to be Theo Riddick. Since the trade, no one else has seen an uptick in usage like Riddick. He has been lining up in the slot being used more of a receiver than a running back.

Riddick has been targeted 28 times catching 25 of those targets through the last four games. The running back corps has been better than expected with the addition of Johnson and usage of Riddick.

The road bumps with Blount have been hard to watch. If he is able to produce like he did against the Bears; the Lions might have a solid running back corps for the rest of the season depending on the severity of Johnson’s injury.

Conclusion

Walking into this season, I was willing to bet the Detroit Lions offense was going to be one of the best in the league. Through a series of unfortunate events, that dream turned into a nightmare. Losing players at key positions through injury and trade and the widely inconsistent play from others turned this offense on top of their head.

The Lions will definitely be looking to improve some key areas this offseason like at left guard and receiver. Hopefully, with the necessary changes, the Lions can regain that pride of a high-powered offense.