Anthony Lynn admits it: he used to be "stubborn." As a play-caller, he was prone to "forcing" the run -- until it cost his team a chance to play in the Super Bowl.
"I think it’s very important to establish (the run), but you don’t want to be stubborn about it," the Lions offensive coordinator said Thursday. "And I will say, there’s been some times in my career where I’ve been real stubborn about that and it’s kind of bit me in the butt."
Lynn was the run-game coordinator for the Jets when they met the Steelers in the 2010 AFC Championship. The Jets had been built on the run all season long, and Lynn remembers them running it "pretty well" that night in Pittsburgh. Midway through the fourth quarter, New York was trailing 24-10 and facing 4th and goal from the one-yard line.
"I’ve always tried to instill the toughness in our team that we’re going to run the ball even when (the defense) knows we’re going to run the ball. And the one time I needed to run the ball and have some success and they knew we were running it, we didn’t," said Lynn. "And I felt like that play cost us in the AFC Championship."
As Lynn recalls, he dialed up a play called 40-blast, a hand-off to LaDainian Tomlinson with a fullback leading the way.
"Pittsburgh knew it, we knew it and our players expected me to call that play," he said. "We dialed it up and they met us in the backfield."
The Jets would lose 24-19, leaving Lynn with a new perspective on play-calling.
"That was a tough lesson," he said, "but this league is too good to know what you’re doing and sometimes still do it."
This is the perspective Lynn brings with him to Detroit. The Lions want to run the ball this season. Between their offensive line and their running backs, they believe they can run it well. Heck, left guard Jonah Jackson said they want to run it like they haven't run it since the days of Barry Sanders. Detroit's best path to success remains on the ground.
That said, Lynn still wants to throw it. He believes in Jared Goff's ability to drive the ball downfield, and he believes the Lions have enough receiving weapons to create explosive plays. He said Thursday, "You do have to take those shots from time to time."
"If we’re running the ball well I think you gotta feed off that and let those guys eat. But at the same time, they understand that we have to mix this thing up," said Lynn. "We can’t just run the football and do what we want to do."
Lynn's track record since his days with the Jets shows a commitment to offensive balance, if not a preference for the pass. In his four seasons as head coach of the Chargers, the team ranked between ninth and 28th in rushing attempts and between fifth and 24th in passing attempts. The only outlier was his stint as offensive coordinator of the Bills in 2016 when Buffalo finished second in rushing attempts and last in passing attempts.
The Lions haven't finished among the top 10 in rushing attempts since 1981. They've finished among the top 10 in passing attempts 16 times in the same span -- including three seasons in which they finished No. 1. A lot of bad teams were playing a lot of catch-up football. And a lot of those teams were bad because they couldn't run it. Lynn and the Lions have to run it this season.
"We want to get the running game going the best we can," Lynn said. "Like I said, we’ll strive for balance, but I know what those big boys do well up front and I’m gonna try to help them get in a rhythm."
But if the run isn't there, Lynn won't be afraid to abandon it. He learned the hard way not to be so hardheaded.