Tuesdays are dedicated to film review of the Detroit Lions games from Sunday. In the wake of the Lions’ 27-13 loss in Green Bay in Week 1, I knew going in that Tuesday was apt to be a long morning.
I went over each play in the All-22 from both the end zone and sideline angles, studying the formations and the action. I also watched the condensed broadcast feed with the sound on to get a renewed feel for how the game momentum was playing out in real-time.
Here’s what I took away from the film…
Packers had purpose
Sometimes it’s hard to give credit to the other team, especially when focusing on the Lions and trying to break down Detroit’s game. But there was a very prevalent theme from the first handful of drives that jumped off the tape. I posted the general theme to social media thusly,
There are plenty of examples of how well the Packers prepped specifically for the Lions, versus the Lions not really having a plan of attack designed to exploit Green Bay’s roster and tendencies. One prime example was how effectively the Packers offense targeted Jack Campbell with TE Tucker Kraft. Green Bay perceived an exploitable matchup and it worked in their favor.
Campbell just doesn’t have the quickness in space to turn and run with Kraft in coverage. The Packers used Kraft a lot early, both as a receiver but also as a clearout guy who would move safeties to create more room for Jordan Love to find other targets. Their first touchdown is a perfect throw from Love to Kraft, well-designed knowing that No. 46 wasn’t going to be able to handle the route and that the safety (Brian Branch) wouldn’t be able to close fast enough because of his wider duties on the play.
Defensively, Green Bay focused on swarming to the ball on the run. They presumed–correctly–that the Lions interior offensive line wasn’t cohesive enough or quick enough to reach second-level targets well, and also that LB Edgerrin Cooper (the best player on the field in this game for either team) would be able to make stops in space. Detroit’s plan didn’t seem so clear or focused. In fact, it’s hard to ascertain what exactly they were doing other than running plays that worked against Detroit’s own opposite unit in practice. The Lions weren’t playing themselves, alas…
Missed assignments from key players
One of the things Dan Campbell said in his postgame press conference, one that generally wasn’t received well by Lions fans, dealt with the coach’s belief that the Lions played well outside of some key missed assignments, or MAs.
“We made some critical errors at the worst times possible. You don’t do those, you take those out of the equation, it looks different. You feel like it’s going to be a different scenario. But, we did make those critical errors at the worst time.”
The film largely validates Campbell’s statement. And it was the key players, the difference-makers, who were missing the key assignments.
It was Brian Branch, immediately after getting an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for throwing a helmet, reading CB Terrion Arnold’s leverage wrong and going outside instead of inside to allow a completion. If Branch goes to Arnold’s inside–where Arnold appeared to expect him–it’s a potential INT for Branch.
It was Penei Sewell losing quickly to his inside shoulder, beaten right away by Micah Parsons on a play where Goff might have had a downfield opportunity. That’s not the play where Goff threw the INT either, though Sewell also got beaten to his inside shoulder by Parsons immediately on that rep, too.
It was Kerby Joseph backpedaling too deep just before the snap to allow Love space to find Jordan Reed to set up their first field goal. There’s no reason for Joseph to start a 3rd-and-7 play over yards deep and moving away from the line at the snap.
It was Jahmyr Gibbs missing a cut-back lane in the red zone and instead circling back to where the designed run was thoroughly stymied, on a play where Sam LaPorta completely missed his block.
It was Jack Campbell having no apparent plan on a blitz where he ran into Marcus Davenport’s backside.
It was Aidan Hutchinson overpursuing to the inside and giving Love room to escape and find time to throw down the field. That happened twice.
It was Jared Goff checking down a count too early to Gibbs after escaping a quick pressure from Parsons, on a Sewell blocking loss, instead of firing to a wide open LaPorta a few yards deeper.
The best players, the playmakers, have to make the plays. They just didn’t make them in this game, on either side of the ball.
Missing Ben Johnson?
One of the hallmarks of Detroit’s offense under Ben Johnson was the ability to run multiple different plays out of the same formation. Johnson was often willing to sacrifice a down early to set something up for later in the game, and that strategy often paid off with a big play, often with some chicanery involved.
I didn’t catch it in watching the game live, but the difference between Ben Johnson and new OC John Morton stood out in direct relation to this concept. It’s from the first quarter.
The Lions went into 13 personnel (1 RB, 3 TE) with the TEs all bunched tight off left tackle for two first-quarter runs with Jahmyr Gibbs. Gibbs bounced the first run outside to the right, making the DT (96) miss in the hole. The Packers easily foiled the second attempt by having the backside safety–with no coverage obligation on the play–crash hard against the run. Another nuanced detail where the Packers played smarter, more prepared football. It was made easier because the Lions tried to run the exact same play.
Same blocking. Same pre-snap and post-snap action. One option on the play call. Okay, so this could be setting the table for later, something Johnson was very adept at doing. But that’s not what Morton has in his designs. The Lions never used the 13 personnel package again. The setup was there for a play action, a bootleg, something. Instead, Detroit’s offense burned the “set ’em up” down and never followed with the “hit ’em with something different” from the same look.
Quick hits
–In the 13 personnel example from above, Graham Glasgow’s best play of the game came on the second run attempt. He buried DT Colby Wooden after driving him five yards down the field on a heads-up block. It was not a good game at all for the new Lions center outside of that block and the second FG drive.
–The decisions to drop Marcus Davenport and Aidan Hutchinson into zone coverage on 3rd downs early in the game, and then not blitzing more than one from the other side, remain completely befuddling after watching the tape. Bad rookie coordinator mistake from Kelvin Sheppard. Thankfully he did not repeat the mistake after halftime.
–Rookie DT Tyleik Williams had an outstanding first drive and then was very difficult to find on film without specifically looking for him. No pass rush at all, and he unfortunately was not alone in that from the DTs. The first-rounder looked quite a bit better than his lowly PFF grade in run defense would indicate, however.
–Isaac TeSlaa was open for what looked like an easy TD on an earlier red zone play aside from his (amazing!) TD catch, but the pressure, or design of the play, forced Goff to look the other way.
–Underappreciated key moment: Craig Reynolds was called for a false start on an early Jack Fox punt. The flag absolutely should have been against the Packers for encroachment that forced Reynolds to react. Fox’s first punt was a high boomer downed at the GB 18. The next kick wasn’t nearly as good, a line drive caught around the GB 37 and returned to the 48. The Lions lost 30 yards on the exchange, leading to a field goal instead of a punt.
–I’m doing the individual tape study on Tate Ratledge this week. Fair warning–the rookie RG clearly looked like a rookie on the road.
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Lions Week 1 film review: Breaking down key takeaways from Detroit’s loss to the Packers
Reporting by Jeff Risdon, Lions Wire / Lions Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
