The Detroit Lions ran the ball as well as they have all season in the first half of last week's win over the Arizona Cardinals , then failed to score a point in the second half.
But Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said he has seen enough from his group to expect things will click for a full game soon.
"It’s coming," Johnson said Friday. "We’re just too talented a group to not have more production and more points than what we’ve had and so it’s just a matter of time before we break through."
The Lions enter Monday night's game against the Seattle Seahawks ranked top 10 in total, rushing and passing yards, but they're averaging just 20.7 points per game, 16th in the league. Last year, with most of the same cast on offense, the Lions averaged a touchdown more per game (27.1 ppg).
Johnson said the offense "certainly felt more like things that have been going our way in the past" in the first half against the Cardinals, and chalked up his group's second-half struggles to players "trying to do too much or not taking what was given to them at times."
"That’s really our emphasis now going into the week is it’s a really stout defense we’re about to face and we just have to make sure that when opportunities present themselves we capitalize and being sound and clean in terms of improvement from last week," he said.
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Here are more highlights of the Lions' coordinators' Friday news conferences:
Risky business
The Lions scored a touchdown on a hook-and-lateral play at an unconventional time last week, and the late first-half touchdown helped propel them to victory.
Johnson said he decided to put the play, which is typically reserved for desperation situations late in games, into the Lions' playbook after watching cut-ups of the offense this spring.
"We throw a lot of those 5-yard in-routes, whether it’s to (Amon-Ra) St. Brown or (Sam) LaPorta and you just notice the coverage collapsing time and time again whenever we do that," Johnson said. "So we were just looking for something that would hit through the backdoor and it worked out like we wanted to."
Johnson said there's "merit" to the idea the play could get more traction in regular game situations, and compared it to the triple-option offenses once popular in college football.
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"When we had that discussion in spring time it was, I’m sure triple-option, speed-option back before I was born, that was seen as a risky play," Johnson said. "And you get the science down, the pitch relationship, when to do it, and teams just made that their whole offense for 80 plays in a game, and so why is it any different down the field? We certainly felt that way when it was St. Brown catching and tossing it. The risk was very, very small. We trust that player. So I think that’s really what it comes down to is time on task and feeling confident about it."
Initially, the Lions' hook-and-lateral play was designed to be a pass to LaPorta and a toss to Jahmyr Gibbs, but St. Brown took LaPorta's place as the designated receiver when LaPorta missed time in training camp with a strained hamstring.
Josh Paschal's bigger role
Josh Paschal will take the injured Marcus Davenport's starting spot as the Lions' big defensive end opposite Aidan Hutchinson, though defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said they are "two totally different people and body types."
"But the one thing I do think that they’re similar, they both are able to rush with power," Glenn said. "Obviously, Davenport’s the longer guy so he has a couple more tools he can use than Paschal, but Paschal is more squatty to the ground, so he’s able to use his spin moves and things like that to win. But they both have advantages between each other that they can go out there and be successful.”
Paschal, a third-round pick in 2022, has three sacks in 25 career games with the Lions, but like Davenport, has an extensive injury history. He missed time as a rookie after undergoing sports hernia surgery , and spent part of last season on injured reserve with a knee injury.
"The things that’s been the issue with him are the injuries, which set you back," Glenn said. "So when you’re growing, then you have injuries, it’s tough to continue, to keep going at that level. Hopefully he can stay exactly where he’s at but continue to grow. And when I say where he’s at, when he’s playing injury-free, he’s been able to play for us cause we do know there’s growth there. So the more that he plays, we know the more he’s going to grow. So I’m excited about seeing that player go out there on a day-to-day, on a down-to-down, and be able to improve and play for us.”
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No returns
The Lions have allowed just one punt return this season, and it wasn't much of a return.
"It was the first game and the guy dives on a ball that’s rolling around on the ground and then we tag him down, so it’s really like no returns," special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said.
Reigning NFC Special Teams Player of the Week Jack Fox is netting 44 yards on his 11 punts this season. He has dropped eight of those kicks inside the 20-yard line and has three touchbacks.
Fipp said Fox's prowess as a punter has helped the Lions control field position, and said the Lions punt-cover unit and head coach Dan Campbell deserve credit for the lack of returns they've allowed, too.
"Just being aggressive on fourth down with our punt team and running fakes and doing different things with it forces the opponent to play you a certain way and it take a little bit of the edge off those guys, and that helps all those guys play better, too," Fipp said. "So you have to say that Coach Campbell deserves a part of that also by the way he calls the game and the amount of pressure he puts on the other team, he’s definitely involved in that.
"Obviously, we’re expecting to cover kicks against Seattle. (Seahawks cornerback Dee Williams) had a good return for them last week. Guy’s a good player, competes back there, defender with the ball in his hands, downhill, so we’re excited about that matchup for us and we’re anxious to go cover some punts.”
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Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, " Detroit Lions : An Illustrated Timeline." Preorder it now from Reedy Press .
Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ben Johnson on Detroit Lions offense: 'Too talented a group' to not produce more
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