Who Is to Blame for Detroit Lions Offensive Struggles?

Matthew Stafford can't find his receivers, Calvin Johnson can't find the end zone, and the Lions still can't run the ball, but who's to blame for the Detroit Lions inability to produce consistent offense in 2012?

Last season, this same Lions team was featured as the No. 5-ranked offense in the NFL in terms of yards gained and the No. 4-ranked scoring offense in the league. Stafford threw for more than 5,000 yards with 41 touchdowns and just 16 interceptions, and the Lions were downright unstoppable at times. 

This season...not so much.

Stafford is still on pace for 4,778 yards, but at his current rate, he will only throw 13 touchdowns. 

So, what's going on? Who is to blame?

Madden

I'm not a superstitious man, but there's really no escaping the Madden curse. 

When Calvin Johnson signed on to represent the Madden franchise for 2013, many of us wondered if there was any way Megatron was susceptible to this curse. Now, we all have our answer. 

It's real. 

Scott Linehan

Now that I've gotten my obligatory Madden curse rant off my chest, perhaps it's time to make some more reasonable criticisms.

Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan is the same man who orchestrated the Lions' impressive offense last year, so why is his leadership suddenly a problem?

To be a successful offensive coordinator requires not only an intricate knowledge of the game of football, but also a heavy helping of creativity. What I'm seeing out of Linehan is far from creative, and more often than not, it seems like opposing defenses are sniffing out this team's plays right from the snap. 

Taking a look at Stafford's and Johnson's stats from last year until now, there's been a significant drop off in productivity starting in Week 9 of 2011. 

Since that time, Stafford has thrown 26 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, and Johnson has caught six touchdowns. 

It's interesting to contrast those numbers with what we see between Week 1 and Week 8 of 2011, when we saw Stafford throw 19 touchdowns and three interceptions and Johnson catch 11 touchdowns. 

Linehan's passing attack tends to get too vertical and too predictable, and teams are really zeroing in on what he's trying to do.

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends

One of the Detroit Lions' biggest issues on offense lies with the men trying to catch the ball. 

Through five games, Lions receivers tallied 22 total dropped passes, per Pro Football Focus, and it's a team-wide problem, as Johnson isn't immune to this butterfingers affliction. 

Megatron has four drops, Brandon Pettigrew has five, Titus Young has two and so does Nate Burleson. 

That kind of consistent inconsistency can stall a lot of drives, and the Lions have not been able to keep the chains moving as a result. 

Matthew Stafford

For quarterbacks in the NFL, discretion is often the better part of valor—something Matthew Stafford is still working on. 

I'm sure having a freak of nature as your No. 1 wide receiver can be something of an ego boost, but Stafford has gotten too loose with his decision-making these days. He tends to throw balls up for grabs into double coverage, even when there's no window for Megatron. 

Furthermore, Stafford's mechanics often leave a lot to be desired. Sure, it's pretty cool that he can make some tough throws from tough angles under pressure, but that doesn't mean he should be operating with bad mechanics on a snap-by-snap basis. 

He sails many of his deep passes, and his accuracy has been slowly declining since the beginning of last season. 

Stafford would be wise to take a step backward to work on the basics in order to take a few steps forward in the years to come. 

Follow me on Twitter @JesseReed78 and check out my weekly NFL picks at Pickfactor.com.