Lions Offense Put on a Clinic vs. Chargers

Let’s get this out of the way first - the Chargers defense was terrible against the Lions in Week 10. There were multiple instances of coverage busts and players not being on the same page. That shouldn’t be happening like it did this late in the season.

That said, the Lions were also outstanding in every way.

The execution was great, and it helped that the offensive line completely dominated. They generated an average of 7.2 yards per rush (removing QB kneels), and Jared Goff wasn’t touched all afternoon.

But Detroit’s success was spearheaded by offensive coordinator Ben Johnson’s approach. He used everything at his disposal to pick the Chargers apart.

His play-mix was outstanding. The Lions called 33 passes (12 of which were play-action) and 28 runs. They won inside and on the perimeter in the run game. They attacked vertically and stretched the field horizontally through the air. They used various personnel distributions and formations to identify defenses. They used motion and misdirection to create space. They got their best play-makers, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs, the ball (The two combined for 27 touches, 277 yards, and 3 touchdowns).

Just 3 plays into the game, you could tell Johnson’s approach for attacking L.A.’s defense was going to be good one.

Here, the Lions came out in “12” personnel, which got the Chargers to match up in base as well. Detroit initially aligned with both tight ends on the perimeter and the Chargers matched up with cornerbacks, an indicator of zone:

When tight end Sam LaPorta motioned across the formation and no one went with him, this was another indicator. Zone coverage was all but confirmed when out of the new 3x1 formation, wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was left with a linebacker over him: