Reality check: Offensive plan based on talent available
Jim Bob Cooter gave the most honest assessment of the Detroit Lions’ struggling offense to date when he said this week that his approach to play-calling is dictated not by philosophy but by the reality of the situation the team is in.
“The ultimate philosophy is adapting and adjusting to win our game one week at a time,” Cooter said. “It’s the week that it is, we got the roster that we got, let’s go draw up a winning game plan. Let’s go find a way to help our team win in whatever manner that looks like. Run, pass, drop-back, play-action, spread them out, bunch them in, one-back, two-back. All that stuff, that’s the job. You better not live in the philosophical academic world. We better go live in reality right now and sort of find a way to win a game.”
The Lions’ reality is that their offense has been decimated by injuries and trade over the past two months, and that’s forced them to try and win games in unorthodox ways.
Leading rusher Kerryon Johnson hasn’t played in three weeks because of a knee injury. Top deep threat Marvin Jones Jr. went on injured reserve last month. Pro Bowl guard T.J. Lang lasted only six games before a neck injury knocked him out for the year. And Golden Tate, he of four straight 90-plus-catch seasons, was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in October.
With that quartet no longer in the mix, the Lions have patched together an offense that’s featured the rickety LeGarrette Blount at running back and Bruce Ellington and TJ Jones alongside Kenny Golladay at receiver.
Matthew Stafford, one of the most prolific passers in the NFL for most of his career, threw for just 101 yards in last week’s win over the Arizona Cardinals, his lowest total since he injured his shoulder in the first game of the 2010 season. He has one touchdown pass in the past three games, to left tackle Taylor Decker on a trick play.
“I think it’s important for us to adjust to who we have now,” Cooter said. “Different times in our history we’ve played a lot more receivers or we’ve had a lot more maybe spread-out looking formations than we have now. But I think the job for me and the job for our offensive staff is to take a look at the board, see who’s up and healthy and who’s ready to go, and put a game plan together with those guys that gives us the best chance to win the game. It may not always be a ton of points and a ton of yards. We’d love to move the ball every drive and score points every drive, but we’re going to find a way to win that game.”
The Lions have put together winning offensive game plans the last three weeks, though fourth-quarter turnovers ultimately ended upset bids against the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams.
Still, Lions head coach Matt Patricia said there’s nothing ugly about the way his offense is trying to win games.
“I think everybody has different views on what they think is exciting and fun football,” Patricia said. “I tend to like the struggle, I like the battle, I like all of it. So, I think back in the day when I was growing up, I think SEC football, scores used to be like 7-3 and I thought those were exciting. I thought they were great games. So it doesn’t really matter however the game goes, you just got to try to find a way to win. And whether it’s a lot of points or no points, doesn’t matter as long as you can just try to come up with the W, which is the hardest thing to do.”
SERIES HISTORY: 11th regular-season meeting. Bills lead series, 5-4-1, and have won three of four meetings at New Era Field. One memorable game in this series came in 2010, when Calvin Johnson caught a 20-yard touchdown pass with 14 seconds to play but Shaun Hill threw incomplete on the game-tying two-point conversion.
