The Detroit Lions' offense was not at its best in Week 6 against the Kansas City Chiefs, but they are still second in the league in scoring (31.8 points per game) and 11th in total offense (353.7 yards per game) entering their Week 7 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Other than having the league's fifth-best run defense, Tampa Bay is a middle of the pack defense so far this year. The Buccaneers being stout against the run is also nothing new.
The Lions have faced Tampa Bay three times over the last two seasons (including playoffs), and Jared Goff had 44, 43 and 55 pass attempts in those games. Better balance would be ideal this week, but the game situation on Monday night could tilt things toward heavily the pass once again.
Lions are uniquely equipped to exploit weakness in Buccaneers' defense
In a look at some stat trends ahead of the bulk of the Week 7 NFL slate, ESPN's Seth Walder wondered if the Lions can take advantage of Buccaneers' linebacker SirVocea Dennis in coverage.
"Dennis has allowed 1.9 yards per coverage snap this season, which is the worst among all linebackers with at least 100 coverage snaps. Sometimes coverage metrics can be fluky or misleading, but after watching every target against Dennis, that is not the case here. Dennis has struggled in coverage, and those plays are riddled with missed tackles in space, too."
"That's absolutely perfect for the Lions, who already attack linebackers plenty. This season, 34% of Detroit's targets have been directed at linebackers, the third-highest in the league per NFL Next Gen Stats. Running back Jahmyr Gibbs and tight end Sam LaPorta could have big receiving days."
The Buccaneers are allowing the third-most receptions (5.2) and receiving yards (55.2) per game to running backs (5.3) so far this season, which of course lines up nicely for Gibbs.
Tampa Bay is middle of the pack against tight ends overall this season. But in their last two games, A.J. Barner (seven catches for 53 yards and two touchdowns) and Jake Tonges (six catches for 58 yards) have been productive against them.
It's safe to say LaPorta is the best tight end they've faced this season.
READ MORE: 3 exciting matchups to watch for between Lions and Buccaneers in Week 7
Gibbs has good history against Tampa Bay, and LaPorta is also on an upward swing with a touchdown in back-to-back games. If they weren't already going to be featured parts of the offense on Monday night, Walder has revealed why they should be.
With Gibbs getting such a strong share of the backfield work, Lions head coach Dan Campbell told reporters he wanted to see David Montgomery get more usage. And if that message was put out there publicly, you can bet Campbell also said it to offensive coordinator John Morton.
But if there was ever a case for Morton to ignore his head coach's directive, for a week anyway, it's this one. Gibbs is the Lions' running back who's best equipped to succeed against Tampa Bay's defense, and Walder's reveal of a matchup to exploit wasn't even necessary to prove it.
Add LaPorta, and the Lions' path to success through the air Monday night will be paved by creating coverage matchups against the Buccaneers' linebackers--with some focus on Dennis, of course.