The first rep of 1-on-1's between the Lions' offense and the Dolphins' defense Wednesday was a 40-yard touchdown from Jared Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who torched corner Jack Jones on a go route. The first play of 11-on-11's was an explosive run to the left by Jahmyr Gibbs. The first play of 11-on-11's in the red zone was a 20-yard touchdown from Goff to Jameson Williams on a seam pass rifled through double coverage.
It was a refreshing day for Detroit's offense, which has spent most of training camp trying to catch up to the defense. St. Brown called it the "elephant" in the room, the unspoken understanding that "as an offense, maybe this camp there have been some struggles for us" as the Lions transition to a new coordinator and two new starters on the offensive line.
"But I think that’s normal," said St. Brown. "We got new coaches, different things, moving parts and we’re going against a really good defense every day, so things can get tough. But we know the ability we have, the playmakers we have, the quarterback we have, the O-line, so it’s just a matter of time for us to keep getting better."
They were back to normal on Wednesday in the first of two joint practices with the Dolphins. Goff was firing strikes all over the field. St. Brown was unstoppable. Gibbs was dancing through holes. Wouldn't you know it, the offensive line was a force, with all five starters united as one. The Lions have not had a great camp running the ball, especially up the middle, where Tate Ratledge and Christian Mahogany are stepping in at guard around a new-old center in Graham Glasgow. They had little trouble churning out yards Wednesday.
In Detroit's first five snaps against the Dolphins' starting defense, Gibbs ran for two first downs to the left and David Montgomery ran for another up the gut, the latter after Goff faked a toss to St. Brown. In the red zone, Gibbs knifed in for a touchdown from eight yards out after Ratledge opened a hole and then cleared out a linebacker and Montgomery plowed in from a couple yards out, again up the middle, doing what he does.
Walking off the field after practice, Gibbs smiled when asked if running behind the O-line felt more like it did the last two years when the Lions imposed their will in the trenches and piled up the most points in the NFL: "Yeah, yeah. Easy running," he laughed. "It makes everything so much easier. I just gotta run straight."
As for the offense as a whole, "I think we performed really well," said Gibbs. "We've really stepped it up in the past couple days. There’s hiccups being in a new offense, so there’s been up-and-down days. I think today, knowing that someone else was coming in really motivated us and made us want to step up even more."
The second series of plays for the first-team offense came from midfield and went like this: Goff to Sam LaPorta for a first down, Goff to St. Brown for a first down, Goff to Kalif Raymond for a first down on a double-pump down the left sideline, Goff back to Raymond for a first down on a perfectly-lofted throw down the right sideline -- Raymond has had a really strong camp -- and Goff to St. Brown for a first down over the middle. And that was that. Goff had a clean pocket on all but one of the throws.
Detroit's offensive line has been one of the best in the NFL for three years running. It has not played up to its lofty standard in camp, understandably so. With Glasgow replacing Frank Ragnow at center and Taylor Decker having just resumed practicing after shoulder surgery, Penei Sewell has been the only returning starter in his regular spot. On Wednesday, with the starting five letting it rip, Decker felt the line operate more like it has in the past.
"No. 1, communication. And then physicality. Do you know what to do, and are you physical when you do it? I felt that," Decker said. "I felt the push off the line."
The Dolphins' first-team defense did generate one stop, punctuated by a third-down sack by first-round pick Kenneth Grant, who bull-rushed Ratledge into Goff's lap. But the Lions' offense responded on the next series, capped off by a play-action roll-out where Goff hit a wide-open Williams deep down the field.
It was an important step forward for the offensive line, "especially when you have so many young guys and now you’re playing unfamiliar faces, because the level of intensity goes up a little bit, there might be a little nerves, little anxiety, so that was good to see as a whole unit," Decker said.
On eight plays in the red zone, each one incrementally closer to the end zone, the Lions' first-team offense scored five touchdowns. Two of them went to St. Brown, who made the catch of camp on a fade from Goff that he pinned with one hand to the helmet of rookie corner Jason Marshall Jr. while toe-tapping the sideline. St. Brown's teammates went nuts as he punted the ball in celebration. On the very next play, St. Brown beat Jones on a crisp route to the front pylon where Goff hit him in stride.
"Anytime you're executing, you're catching balls, your run game's going, you're protecting the quarterback and you’re scoring touchdowns, that always looks good," said St. Brown. "We haven’t watched the tape yet, but from what I saw out here, looked pretty solid for us as an offense."
It was a long day for Jones, who spent most of it getting taken to class by St. Brown. One-on-ones were especially unfair. The two of them actually go back to their high school days in Southern California. After the Lions' fourth straight touchdown in the red zone, Jones started a skirmish when he objected to an extended block by Isaac TeSlaa by knocking off the rookie's helmet. The extracurriculars ended when Jones came face to face with Ratledge and St. Brown stepped in to guide him away.
"Jack-Jack, he’s a talker," St. Brown said with a smile, "but that’s what gets him going."
When Decker was asked about Ratledge staring down Jones in an obvious mismatch, he laughed and said, "I mean, it’s a defensive back. You can get choke-slammed if you want to."
To close practice, the Lions' offense took the field on their own 30 facing the following situation: tie game, 54 seconds on the clock, two timeouts. On the first play, Goff hit St. Brown down the seam for a 25-yard gain. He hit Brock Wright for a short gain on the next, then found Ronnie Bell -- who got a good dose of reps with the first-team offense Wednesday -- for another first down. Ratledge prevented a sack on the next play by picking up a rusher at the last second after the Dolphins ran a well-timed stunt, allowing Goff to hit Shane Zylstra for an eight-yard gain and move the ball into the red zone.
After an incompletion to St. Brown -- the only one of the day between Nos. 16 and 14 -- Goff took an end zone shot to Williams, who was well-covered down the sideline. The pass fell incomplete, but the Dolphins were flagged for defensive holding on Zylstra down the middle. The Lions didn't get to use the fresh set of downs. The coaches decided that was the last play of the drive, which felt like it was destined for the end zone.
The Lions' struggles on offense were real through the first few weeks of camp, relative to what we've come to expect. The unit looked more like itself against the Dolphins. Spin it however you'd like: Detroit's defense might be really good, Miami's defense might be really bad, and the Lions' rebuilt offensive line might actually be solid with all five starters in action.
Whatever the case, Wednesday was a day the offense needed. St. Brown said they "just wanted to go out there and do what we do," which is to move the ball without mental errors and penalties and with a high regard for details like splits, alignments and depth of routes.
"That’s really the biggest thing for us, is being clean, and we were pretty clean," said St Brown. "Had some penalties, but just executing at a high level, because that’s what we’ve been doing here for the past few years."