Drew Petzing adjusted the Lions' offense right into his vision in Week 8

When Drew Petzing was hired as Detroit Lions offensive coordinator, visions of two and three tight ends on the field at the same time were easy. He had leaned into that strongly over the previous two seasons as Arizona Cardinals' offensive coordinator, but he also made it clear he would marry his scheme to the talent he had in Detroit.

With that, the Lions didn't go dramatically tight end-heavy over their first six games. Brock Wright still had prominent snap shares in most of those games, but it wasn't a great difference from previous years.

The Lions, as many teams have, have had trouble with the blitz-heavy looks of Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores in recent years. Flores particularly found something that worked last season, forcing running back Jahmyr Gibbs to stay in to pass protect on a regular basis.

Petzing was sure to bring a welcome different perspective to the chess game against Flores. In 2024, Petzing's Cardinals offense had 406 total yards, averaged five yards per carry on the ground and allowed just one sack in a close loss to the Vikings.

Drew Petzing adjusted the Lions offense within his vision vs. Vikings

In the first half of Week 8 against the Vikings, the Lions had 77 rushing yards on 16 attempts. Jared Goff was also sacked three times in the opening half.

In the second half, the Lions had 153 rushing yards on 23 attempts, led by 110 from Gibbs. The Vikings defense was generally tired due to their offense's inability to stay on the field, reflected by rampant missed tackles, and Petzing pounced by going run-heavy and getting creative with how he deployed people.

Drew Petzing leaned into heavy personnel to positive effect vs. Vikings

According to JP Acosta of CBS Sports, the Lions were in 12 or 13 personnel for 84.4 percent of their offensive snaps in the second half against Minnesota with a 38.5 percent uptick in 13 personnel.

Per Colton Pouncy of The Athletic, the had three fewer snaps in 13 personnel (16) against the Vikings than they'd had in their previous six games combined (19).

Pro Football Focus charted 19 snaps in 13 personnel for the Lions against the Vikings, along with 34 snaps in 12 personnel.

While the exact numbers regarding the volume of 12 or 13 personnel can vary depending on source, the broad idea stands. The Lions went tight-end heavy to counteract what the Vikings do defensively, and in the second half the run game broke open for them.

Petzing also got creative with how those tight ends were aligned, as shown by Nate Tice of Yahoo! Sports.

According to PFF, Lions' tight end Sam LaPorta lined up in the backfield for 12 snaps against the Vikings. He also had the second rushing attempt of his career in the game, and the first since his rookie season.

Per PFF, Wright lined up in the backfield for 17 snaps against Minnesota as he had his highest snap share (76 percent) since Week 11 last season. No. 3 tight end Tyler Conklin lined up in the backfield for three of his season-high 22 offensive snaps.

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It's safe to say not every team can do what the Lions did against the Vikings' defense. For one thing, no other team has Gibbs in the backfield. A lot of teams don't have three tight ends they'd trust to play a lot, let alone be able to comfortably deploy them creatively within going tight-end heavy.

But Petzing had an adjustment in his pocket to go to in Week 8, and he went all-in on it. More tight ends on the field, with creative alignment combinations as a tentacle, delivered a second half bludgeoning of the Vikings' defense on the ground.

Visions of going tight end-heavy may dance in Petzing's head every week, but he had held back to a large extent before Week 8. Against the Vikings, he showed he'll shift that way when it's appropriate and go all the way with it when it's working.

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