Lions’ offense is lacking a crucial element ahead of key Cowboys game

Last year’s Detroit Lions offense was one of the greatest the NFL has ever seen. The team scored 564 points, good enough for the fourth most in NFL history. Detroit’s average of 33.2 points per game is the 13th highest of all time and the best mark of the 2020s so far.

But this year, the Lions’ offense has been marred with inconsistency. While the Lions still rank third in the NFL in yards per game and are fourth in points, they’ve put up some duds against teams like the Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles and even had some shaky performances in their wins, like over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Giants.

And while much of that can be explained by the departures of offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and center Frank Ragnow amid a host of injuries to the offensive line, (never mind the fact that you can’t expect a historically great offense every year), there is something else missing from Detroit’s offense this year.

They have been taking deep shots at a historically low rate. 

Lions offense is missing big plays from their arsenal

As of Nov. 24, (which is admittedly before the Lions’ Thanksgiving loss to Green Bay), only 6.8% of the Lions’ pass attempts this year have traveled 20 or more yards through the air. That number is dead last in the NFL.

And in that Thanksgiving game, the Lions attempted only one pass further than 20 yards downfield, which fell incomplete. 

The threat of the deep ball has not been there for Detroit at all this season, which is surprising for a team with one of the NFL’s best deep threats in wideout Jameson Williams. Kalif Raymond and Isaac TeSlaa have the skill sets to contribute there too, but neither has caught a pass of longer than 30 yards this season.

“We're always trying to push the ball down the field and take advantage of the secondary and what it is presenting us,” Lions quarterbacks coach Mark Brunell said this week. “Sometimes that doesn't exist when you have a [Jameson Williams] and you have a [Kalif Raymond] and you have guys that can stretch the field and get down the field.” 

Brunell continued, saying that the defensive attention that the Lions’ deep threats, particularly Williams, command downfield makes it harder to target them deep.

“They'd rather keep everything in front of you. And that's not an excuse. But I can tell you every week we are looking for what we call explosives, big passes down the field and sometimes they present themselves, sometimes they don't.”

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Hitting on deep shots isn’t the end-all, be-all for offensive success in the NFL, and as Brunell said, it’s unwise to force them when they aren’t there. But the Lions have too much offensive talent to not be accessing that part of the field at all.

And with their season starting to slip away at 7-5, it might be time to try some new things on offense and take a couple of shots. But that’ll be a tough task this week against a Dallas Cowboys defense leading the NFL in quarterback hurries per drop back and pressure percentage. It’s a difficult defense to hold the ball against.

The Lions’ inability to throw deep is likely to continue this week more than anything. With a player as dangerous as Williams is downfield, that feels like a missed opportunity for this offense.

Detroit is staring its season in the face over these last five games. With injuries mounting up on both sides of the ball and the team continuing to fall behind in the standings, they need a spark badly. Maybe it comes in the form of a deep shot.