Detroit Lions Offensive Playbook: Breaking Down the Steel Curtain

Formation: I Form—Wide

Get that image in your minds.

If the Detroit Lions are going to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, you will see it quite a bit.

In the Steelers' two losses, 62 percent of passes caught by opposing offenses were by tight ends and running backs.

However, against a fast, blitzing defense, the screen doesn't always work. A release play, however, should.

In the release, the running back is allowed some leeway to make a few decisions and the quarterback needs to make a "hot read"—deciding where the blitz is coming from and taking advantage of the open space.

If the two athletes are on the same page, this play can be a big gainer against Dick LeBeau's blitzing style. If the Lions make a mistake, the ball may end up in the hands of someone wearing black and gold.

Problems happen with this play if the quarterback misreads the blitz. If LeBeau is calling a zone blitz, which he loves, or a cloud, which he loves even more, mistakes pile up.

To counter that, the routes run by the receivers must be safe routes. Clearouts or fade patterns are great routes to run against most teams when you're looking to pass to the running back.

Against Pittsburgh, those kind of tactics will get you sacked.

Time will be at a premium on Sunday, Stafford (or Culpepper) will need to get rid of the ball early and often.

Formation: Any

Run, Run, Pass, Punt—not exactly a formula for success.

Teams that succeed against the Steelers find themselves mixing in a variety of plays on first down, passing on run downs, running on passing downs, etc.

Defensive players tend to get in ruts. If they make a play, they want to make it again. If they make a mistake, they want to succeed in the same scenario.

Because of that, defensive players will often guess. Pass twice on first down in the same drive and defensive players will be yelling, "watch the pass! watch the pass!"

If the Pittsburgh defensive line has a weakness, it is a tendency to give up passing downs. Their role is to eat up blockers and let the linebackers get to the quarterback.

It is a familiar site to see the three linemen engage their blockers and then read the quarterback to see where he's going.

Against the draw, they might as well be on the sidelines.

For the draw to work, it needs to be unexpected. Running the draw on the second first down of the game isn't going to work. Running the draw three times in a row on passing downs is going to get Smith killed.

The draw is a play that should be run, at most, three to four times a game against teams selling out against the pass.

The Steelers are a very hard team to run against, but the Lions have found success against good run defenses already this season. The trick is to not abandon the run too easily.

Formation: I-Form—Tight Right

Every play does not have to be a touchdown.

When you're a team that is still struggling, it is easy to forget that. Offense isn't a race to see who can score the most points (sorry, Mike Martz), it is a chess match.

If a team wants to win games, it has to pick its spots and be happy with small gains.

Against the Steelers, three yard runs might be hard to come by. A three-yard pass however, much easier.

Let the blitz come! Invite it! Love it! But get rid of the ball before it gets there!

By Ole! blocking the entire Steelers' front seven, Pettigrew should be able to find some yardage right in the middle of the field, catching the ball almost at the line of scrimmage.

As he turns up field, the Steelers' safeties will almost certainly be right there. That is okay. Trust me. The Lions should relish the physical match up of a 6'5", 265 pound tight end against two injured defensive backs who barely top out over 200 pounds.

The success rate of this play is huge—if you count success as three or four yards on first or second down. Any extra yardage Pettigrew churns out is gravy.

Formation: Single Back—Three Wide

A play the Lions have not made enough use of this season is the smoke route. In this play, the quarterback takes advantage of a cornerback playing too far off the receiver and guns the ball to that receiver behind the line of scrimmage letting his man run in space.

With Calvin Johnson, this play should be absolutely money.

You don't even know how money it should be.

Ike Taylor and William Gay don't tend to let anything behind them. They sit back and let the pass rush force stupid passes and are both great at breaking to the ball and reading routes.

With a quick strike to the outside, Calvin Johnson should still have room to gain two or three yards before contact. With his size, strength and speed, he should be able to gain yards after contact as well.

The Lions should go to this play early and often, it will open up deeper routes and wear down the Steelers' secondary—a position that is relatively shallow.

The Lions should also go to this play any time CJ is matched up with Gay, who is a much smaller player.

In week one, 72 percent of Tennessee's passes were under nine yards in a game which Tennessee lost because of two missed field goals.

A similar passing game will have similar success, especially with a top flight wide receiver.

Yet, this play can be run successfully with any of the receivers on the roster—Bryant Johnson, Dennis Northcutt, and even Derrick Williams should see looks in the quick passing game.

Formation: Single Back—Three Wide

As much as the Steelers stop the run, it is just as important to establish the run as a legitimate threat.

Down by two scores in the fourth quarter, Cincinnati had their greatest success still running the ball. The vaunted Steeler defense was gashed as Cedric Benson ran for 42 of his 76 yards in the fourth quarter.

To that point, Benson had been shut down for most of the day. A lot of his runs were for a yard or less. Yet, for a team in the NFL, down the entire game, 19 rushes shows a commitment to the run.

Because of that commitment, the Bengals were able force a close game.

With Kevin Smith still fighting injury, the Lions need to be able to get Aaron Brown on the edge.

The toss sweep is a high risk/high reward play. If the Lions run it three times, they might lose yardage twice.

It is imperative that linemen, tight ends and wide receivers create a wall, ensuring that Brown can reach the edge without worrying about meeting Polamalu or James Harrison at the line of scrimmage.

Again, this isn't a home run play. It is, however, a play that can break the will of a team trying to funnel everything inside.

The Steelers would like nothing more than to put this game away early. Shutting down a few early runs and teeing off on quarterbacks for the rest of the game is their modus operandi.

If the Lions can get yards on the edge and subsequently get yards on play action passes on fake sweeps, the Steelers will be forced to play wider and tighter to the line, opening up the middle and the deeper passes.

The Lions are playing against one of their own. A legend in Dick LeBeau—a man who will hopefully be in the Hall of Fame soon as a player, and will certainly find himself in as a defensive coordinator.

This is a man whom Ron Jaworski called the "best ever to coach defense."

He will not make this easy against his former team.

What Dick LeBeau doesn't want is a close game. The Steelers struggled without Troy Polamalu and he is supposed to be the panacea for a huge game this week against the lowly Lions.

Put the game on Jason Hanson's sterling silver leg and success can be found.

Five Offensive Benchmarks to Reach for a Win
*60 percent completion percentage—yardage doesn't matter, if the Lions can keep Nick Harris somewhat off the field, it will be a good day.

*80 yards rushing—no reason to be greedy, the Steelers are giving up less than 65 yards per game on the ground. If the Lions' backs top 80 yards, this game will be closer than Pittsburgh wants.

*10 pass catches by non-wide receivers—as discussed earlier, the Steelers are vulnerable to the short passing game. As they roll coverage to Calvin Johnson, the running backs and tight ends should be open for quick passes.

*Passes under four seconds—same thought process as the last point but it needs to be stressed. If Culpepper or Stafford are still standing after "four-Mississippi" it would be a miracle. The Lions need to be prepared for quick passing to succeed this weekend.

*19 points—that's four field goals and a touchdown. The Steelers have scored more than 19 twice this year, and are certainly capable of scoring much more against this Lions defense. It is how the Lions get those 19 points that matter.

Five offensive scoring drives of five minutes is 25 minutes of possession. Add in another 10 or 12 minutes on the other five drives and you have the Lions dominating the clock in a close game.

In this age of parity, every game is "winnable." The Lions must be on their best behavior if this game is going to have a chance.

On the bright side, the Lions have nothing to lose by losing to the world champions. If they win, it will be a huge step in the right direction.

Michael Schottey is a Detroit Lions Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and the producer and host of The Average Joe Sports Show on 860AM KNUJ (New Ulm, MN). He is also an NFL Analyst and Senior Writer for DraftTek.com.