Lions Offense Had All the Answers for the Vikings Defense

The first three possessions of the game did not go well for the Lions Offense: 9 plays, 29 yards, 2 sacks, no first downs.

Minnesota gave them a dose of everything that they like to do as a defense on those 3 drives, and Detroit seemed powerless to stop it.

They got a sack on their first drive using one of Brian Flores’ patented pressures (align with more pass rushers than the protection can handle; linebackers then blitz or drop out after occupying a blocker based on the direction of the slide):

On the Lions’ second drive, the Vikings got to another defense they like to mix in frequently - show pressure and then drop out into cover-2 or Tampa-2 at the snap:

Minnesota only rushed 3 here, but the disguise resulted in Goff holding the ball, and that led to a 3rd-down sack:

The Vikings’ run defense (which ranked 2nd in the NFL entering Week 7) shut down Detroit’s ground game early, including this 3rd-and-1 on the Lions’ 3rd possession.

Watch #90 Jonathan Bullard drive right tackle Penei Sewell into the backfield and set the edge, allowing the rest of the defense to pursue from the backside (he was also involved in the tackle):

Trailing 10-0, it seemed this would just not be Detroit’s day against a formidable defense that looked fresh coming off of a bye week. Might as well just pack it in and move on to the next game, right?

Of course not. The Lions know they have the talent and the scheme to hang with anyone. And from their 4th possession on, they had an answer for everything the Vikings do well as a defense. The result was four straight drives with a touchdown.

Detroit’s offense starts with their offensive line and run game. So it’s no surprise that this is what kick-started their offensive outburst.

On this play, a 45-yard touchdown run by Jahmyr Gibbs, the Lions would run wide zone to the right:

To combat some of Minnesota’s early down pressures that are effective against the run, Ben Johnson did a few things. He aligned wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown tight to the formation to the right. This was to account for the potential edge pressure coming from safety Josh Metellus (off screen) on the right. He also aligned tight end Brock Wright in the backfield but had him block to the left at the snap:

With St. Brown blocking to the right (or at least trying to block/getting in the way of Metellus) and Wright’s split flow action to the left, the Lions were able to handle the edge pressure to the play side and cut off any backside pursuit. The O-line and Gibbs did the rest:

When playing the Vikings, offenses need to have answers for Brian Flores’ aggressive pressure schemes, and in particular, those patented read blitzes shown earlier. On the Lions’ next possession, they dealt with this in a unique and effective way that other teams might emulate in the future.