Dan Campbell likens the Lions' offense to a "smoldering fire" that needs a spark.
"It’s just smoke and you see some embers, but you can’t get it lit, and you just need a little oxygen. That’s what us as coaches (have to do): just give them a little oxygen and they’ll do the rest, this thing will go," Campbell said Friday. "So that’s what we’re charged with. I like our plan to this point, and we all have to do our job."
The Lions enter Sunday's game against the Commanders with the second-ranked scoring offense in the NFL. You wouldn't know it by the sound of things this week in Allen Park. The offensive coordinator said the scheme was good in last week's loss to the Vikings but the protection was at fault. The offensive linemen suggested they got out-schemed. The star receiver said more generally that "the word that sticks out to me is flow."
"I feel like we haven’t been in a flow all year," Amon-Ra St. Brown said Thursday. "There’s been a few games we were in a flow -- like the Bears, you could say the Ravens, too -- but I just feel like that flow has been missing, whatever you want to call flow: rhythm, execution, just everything as a whole. If we get that back — I should say when we get that back — I think we’ll be just fine."
The lack of flow stems from the Lions' struggles on third down, where they've plummeted from fourth in the NFL in conversion rate last year to 25th this year. And that stems largely from their troubles running the ball for positive yards on early downs, which has frequently put the offense behind schedule.
Excluding Jahmyr Gibbs' 78-yard touchdown run in the Lions' Week 7 win over the Buccaneers, Detroit has averaged 3.5 yards per carry over its last five games. That would rank last in the NFL over the course of this season. And it's more or less what the rushing attack has looked like on a down-in, down-out basis for more than a month.
Passing game coordinator David Shaw best summed up the Lions' offense -- and their season -- this week when he said, "We are explosive but inefficient."
"We are not playing our best football, and we are a half game out of first place in our division," said Shaw. "It's up to us to find that groove again. We were humming pretty good a few weeks ago. We're not as far away as it looks."
Campbell is the head of the Lions' offensive braintrust, no different than when former coordinator Ben Johnson was calling plays. The biggest difference so far under John Morton is that the offensive line hasn't been as dominant without Frank Ragnow and Kevin Zeitler. That feels like the root of most of the Lions' issues moving the ball.
Last year, Ragnow, Zeitler and Penei Sewell all ranked among the 10 best run-blocking offensive linemen in the NFL, per PFF. This year, Sewell is the Lions' only offensive linemen in the top 40 in that group (he ranks No. 1 overall). To no surprise, the Lions were sixth in the NFL last season in converting rushes into first downs; this year, they're 25th.
Sunday marks a big game for Morton and the Lions' offense. The coaching staff has spent most of this week asking themselves one question, said Campbell: "How do we become more efficient?" With a tweak or two to the operation, he said, "the knock in the engine is gone."
"It's not as bad as people think it is. And it really doesn’t take much, just a little tightening here. I really believe that," Campbell said. "And I know you’ve been hearing me say that for two weeks, I got it. But it’s coming, man. I told the guys, and they know this: Man, I’ve got a million ideas. And I believe it’s going to work this week. And if it doesn’t, then I’ve got another idea. I’ve got plenty. We’ll get this thing going."
The tweak on Sunday, said Campbell, without wanting to give anything away, "could be with the way the game is called. It could be maybe rhythm of how you call it. It could be what you go to. It could be who you’re trying to get involved."
Sunday isn't so much a grudge match for the Lions against the team that ended them last season as it is a revenge game on themselves. The film they put up last week against the Vikings is not who they've been. An offense that struggles on third down should not be who they are. From the coaches to the players, "our main motivation right now, coming off last week," said left tackle Taylor Decker, "is let’s play the game of football that we know we can play."
"Obviously we played that organization last year in the playoffs, but there’s a lot that’s different about them and about us. It's a sour taste in your mouth, but more than anything for me, we want to get back on track for the next one because that was not a performance (last week) that we were happy to have as an offense or even as a team," said Decker.
Decker pointed to first-down efficiency as one of the biggest keys for the Lions' offense. It opens up the play-action game, where Jared Goff and this passing attack are most lethal, and preserves the option of running the ball deeper into each series, which puts the defense in conflict.
"One thing that we were efficient at in the past is, when you can keep it third-and-manageable you can run the ball. We ran the ball a lot (on third down) and then if you get to those fourth downs you can get fourth-and-shorts and go for it. ... It’s hard to call the plays when it’s 3rd and 16, so I think the big thing is first and second down," Decker said.
The Commanders defense can be had. It's allowed the third highest passer rating in the NFL this season and hasn't stood up against the run. Even on the road, this is a good chance for the Lions to get right.
"I trust these players, I like the plan," said Campbell.
St. Brown boiled it down to two words: "communication, execution."
"Whether we're scoring in five plays or 18 plays, as long as we’re on track, taking care of the football, doing all the little stuff, the details, the fundamentals, I mean, I think we’re a pretty good offense," said St. Brown. "We got guys that can make plays everywhere, so we just gotta get back in that flow."