Detroit Lions Offensive Playbook: These Rams Don't Have a Hemi

Formation: I-Form Tight Left

See this man...block this man.

James Laurinaitis has been, arguably, the best defensive player on the Rams this season. The second rounder has started from day one and has racked up a team leading 49 tackles and two interceptions.

However, watching plenty of tape from the former Ohio State Buckeye's college days, It is noticeable that he has issues shedding blocks.

By sweeping to the outside of the field, the Lions can combo block the Rams defensive ends (probably their most talented unit) and—hopefully—get a blocker (Felton or a pulling guard) on Laurinaitis.

If the Lions fail at blocking Laurinaitis, he will have a huge game tracking down Kevin Smith and/or Aaron Brown. By blocking him consistently, the Lions can assure themselves of an extra four or five yards per carry

Formation: I-Form Double Tight

See this man...the Rams will miss this man.

For some crazy reason, the St. Louis Rams pulled a trade deadline move, sending Will Witherspoon to the Eagles for Brandon Gibson and a fifth round pick. Gibson, a little used wide receiver, and a late-round pick seems bad compensation for a guy who started for the Eagles and was their most dominant player on MNF.

This leaves the Rams with Paris Lenon as a starter.

Lions fans know how that will work out.

While Lenon is solid, but not spectacular, in zone coverage, he is absolutely atrocious when forced to man up against tight ends. Lenon is simply not fast enough to keep up with many tight ends in the NFL and is certainly not big enough to bring them down with authority.

The play of Brandon Pettigrew has been spotty (at best). Perhaps a great confidence booster would be a break out day against an opponent who was deemed talentless enough to be dropped from the Lions.

On a hitch formation, Pettigrew gets to take advantage of Lenon, who will be giving him a big cushion on pass plays to not get burned. BP then stops, turns and catches the ball for a nice five yard gain.

Facing second and five or third and one all day will equal a good day for the rest of the offense.

Formation: I-Form Twins

Will Calvin Johnson play? In a word...I don't know.

As of Wednesday, he has yet to practice. Top wide receivers usually don't need to practice much before a game and can play on a walk through. However, with a rookie QB, it might be more prohibitive to put a detached unit on the field.

If Calvin sees the field on Sunday, he will go against a unit who simply cannot match up with him. The Rams defensive backs are forced to double, bracket, and roll coverage over to every number one wide receiver.

They still get burned.

A great way to burn lesser talented defensive backs is to engineer double move routes. The "Sluggo" is first and foremost among such routes. "Sluggo" stands for slant-go and usually represents a route which starts as a slant and turns into a go route. "Sluggo" can also be used to label a route in which the outside receiver runs a slant and the inside guy runs a go.

Both are ways in which a receiver can free himself of a corner back and get one on one with a safety.

Oshiomogho Atogwe is a rising star in this league at free safety but is mistake prone and suffers against quicker wide receivers. He is also six full inches shorter than Calvin Johnson and four inches shorter than Bryant.

That is a match up the Lions should force the Rams into as many times as they can.

Formation: I-Form Three WR

The Lions have overused the quick pitch like The Office overuses "That's what she said." Yes, I know the joke was that Michael overused it too much and that him not being funny was the real humor. I get it. It still got annoying after a while.

/soapbox

However, now that teams have scouted the Lions and their tendencies, they will creep up on third downs and try to stop the quick pitch out to Brown or Smith. That is when the Lions are supposed to take advantage.

While there are many ways to take advantage of a defense trying to stop the quick pitch, all of them involve utilizing a player who can get back against the grain quickly.

For the Lions, that man is Dennis Northcutt. His combination of speed and acceleration is perfect for this situation. Plus, he is always third or fourth on the list of players another team has to defend.

So, when it gets to be third and short, and the defense creeps up, the Lions need to get the ball to Northcutt. Whether it is a reverse or a drag route, Northcutt should be able to get around the end of the other defense for a sizable gain.

Formation: Split-Belly

No, I am not advocating that the Lions go sign the former Cornhusker and start going all "Georgia Tech" on the NFL. Even though it would be awesome.

However, I'm using this extreme to illustrate a point. The Rams suck...The Lions suck a little less in 2009. The Lions have moved the ball on offense against teams like the Vikings and Steelers, the Rams should NOT be a problem.

However, the Triple Option isn't just an extreme, using it here also makes a point. When the option is executed properly, it can't be stopped.

Execution is the key against the Rams. Against a team this bad, without the talent to utilize Steve Spagnuolo's defensive scheme, it doesn't matter what kind of offense the Lions run. In the end, this game—like the triple option—is all about execution.

With a healthy team, coming off a bye, no excuses will be tolerated.