These are trying times for Amon-Ra St. Brown. For the first time since his first month in the NFL, he's been held to three or fewer catches in consecutive games. For the first time since his third month in the NFL, he's been held to fewer than 50 yards in consecutive games in which he was healthy.
And for maybe the first time since Ben Johnson took over the Lions' passing attack midway through St. Brown's rookie season, there is a sense of unease around Detroit's offense -- which, mind you, still ranks third in the NFL.
"Obviously as an offense we have high expectations," St. Brown said Thursday as the Lions try to shake the stench of a 28-13 loss to the Bears. "We know the guys in our room, we know we got a bunch of playmakers. So when we only put up 13 points, the whole offense, we’re disappointed, we’re frustrated. We know we can be better."
Two weeks ago, the Saints built their defensive game plan around limiting St. Brown -- and nearly beat the Lions as a result. They held him to two catches for 49 yards (and a touchdown), using double teams and bracket coverage and extra help from safeties to take away Jared Goff's favorite receiver. Since his breakout game against the Vikings as a rookie, St. Brown has the most catches and fourth most targets in the NFL. In the latter department, only Davante Adams, Stefon Diggs and Tyreek Hill have more.
The Bears did something similar last week, if not quite as aggressively. Their defense held St. Brown to three catches for 21 yards, and shut out the Lions in the second half. St. Brown, who had averaged about eight catches and 100 yards through the first 10 games of the season, even put a couple balls on the ground. He also had an uncharacteristic miscue with Goff where he cut off a crossing route over the middle and Goff delivered the pass as if he expected St. Brown to keep running.
St. Brown typically catches about 75 percent of the passes that come his way. Until two weeks ago, he'd never caught less than 40 percent in a game. He's been under 40 percent in each of the last two games, on 14 total targets. It's reflective, in part, of the extra attention he's receiving from defenses, but St. Brown insists "they're not playing me much different" aside from "maybe a little on third down, maybe a safety coming down to help." St. Brown says his slump, and that of the offense, owes more to a lack of execution on this end.
"For us, it's just getting back to what we do best, getting back to the basics. And being explosive, that’s the biggest thing. When we’re explosive, we’re a pretty good football team. ... You're focusing too much on what the defense is doing. At the end of the day, we run the plays, they have to guard us and go where we go. We gotta just execute as an offense, everyone has to do their job, including me, and I think we’ll be fine," he said.
The basics is where Johnson pointed the finger on Thursday. The base-pass game, he said, just hasn't been as sharp as usual of late. The details and the timing haven't been as crisp, "and it’s come back and bit us in the rear-end," Johnson said. Take that miscommunication between St. Brown and Goff as an example. St. Brown admitted the fundamentals can falter "as the season goes on" amid hyper-focus on each week's opponent. The Lions have spent this week ironing those issues out ahead of Saturday's game against the Broncos.
"If we can just get back to what we do, plays that we know best no matter what the defense is giving us, plays that we feel comfortable in, the O-line, the quarterback, the running backs, tight ends, receivers, everyone, I think it’s just going to help us that much more," said St. Brown.
St. Brown had big goals for himself this season, and it's safe to assume they're still within reach. Even with his recent dip, he's putting up the best numbers of his career. And with the playoffs on the horizon, maybe a little stumble comes at the right time for the Sun God.
"For me personally, I use it as fuel. I can’t speak for everyone, but us as an offense, I think we use it as fuel, too," said St. Brown.