With or Without Calvin Johnson, Lions Offense Needs to Snap out of Its Funk

In this bizarro world just five weeks into the 2014 season, the Detroit Lions find themselves ranked second in the NFL in scoring defense and a lowly 27th in scoring offense. 

Detroit's rare offensive struggles hit a sort of rock bottom Sunday. After scoring just 14 points and totaling 263 yards in a last-second loss to the Buffalo Bills, the once offense-rich Lions are now averaging 19.8 points and 343.2 yards per game in 2014—or almost five points and 50 yards fewer than last season. 

Since Week 1, when the Lions made scoring 35 points against the New York Giants look easy, Detroit has averaged just 16.0 points a contest, with only one game—a 24-point effort helped along by two defensive scores in Week 3—finishing over 20 points. 

	Points	Total Yards	Passing Yards	Rushing Yards
vs. NYG	35	417	341	76
at CAR	7	323	253	70
vs. GB	19	353	238	115
at NYJ	24	360	272	88
vs. BUF	14	263	194	69
TOTAL	99	1716	1298	418

Snapping out of the funk will likely need to happen without receiver Calvin Johnson, at least in the short term. Peter King of MMQB.com has reported Johnson could miss one or two weeks after re-aggravating an ankle injury against the Bills in Week 5. He caught just one pass before leaving the contest, giving him just three catches for 19 yards over the last two weeks. 

Injuries have certainly played a factor in the offense's difficulties.

On Sunday, the Lions were without running backs Joique Bell and Theo Riddick and tight end Joseph Fauria. Johnson and running back Reggie Bush both left the contest with injuries. 

Overall, those five combined for 4,469 yards from scrimmage and 35 touchdowns last season. Clearly, a big chunk of Matthew Stafford's weapons were absent or ailing Sunday. 

However, the Lions—despite a defense now firmly in the conversation among the NFL's elite—still need the offense to play better to win games. 

Since 2012, Detroit is 0-12 in games in which the offense totals fewer than 350 yards. And when the Lions don't score more than 20 points, Detroit comes in at 0-17 since 2011. Essentially, when the offense doesn't show up, the Lions lose. That trend continued Sunday.

To be fair, the Lions likely should have scored more than 14 points against the Bills. Kicker Alex Henery, Detroit's second player already at the position this season, missed three kicks, including what could have been the game-winner late in the fourth quarter. The three misses cost the Lions nine points and a possible comfortable win. 

Still, the 263 total yards—including 194 passing—indicates larger problems. Note that from 2011 to 2013, the Lions had just three games with fewer than 200 yards passing. Also, the Lions scored seven of their points off a defensive touchdown, marking the second time in three weeks that the defense nearly outscored the offense.

The lack of production stalled drives and cost the Lions Sunday. 

"We have to do a better job of finishing some drives," head coach Jim Caldwell said, via the team's official site. "Rather than three down there, in the scoring territory, we'll have to be able to come away with seven."

Despite adding Golden Tate, scoring without Johnson remains a problem for the Lions. 

When Johnson has 40 yards receiving or fewer in a game over his career, Detroit averages just 19.4 points. Over those 19 games, the Lions are 6-13 overall. In the two games he missed last season, Detroit averaged just 11 points and lost both games.   

Tate has certainly been terrific—he leads the team in catches (31), targets (40) and receiving yards (451)—but the Lions still look fantastically average without No. 81 healthy. 

Overall, Detroit has just 10 offensive touchdowns over five games, and four came in Week 1. The offense's six passing touchdowns rank 27th in the NFL.

Meanwhile, the Lions rank 19th in first downs (92) and overall passing rating (89.1), 24th in yards per play (5.2), 27th in total rushing yards (418), 30th in yards per carry (3.1) and 31st in sack percentage (8.7). The problems on offense cannot be limited to one position group or area; it's an across-the-board dilemma facing the quarterback, offensive line, running backs and receivers. 

The Lions have worked through the ups and downs of the offense thanks to a stifling defense. After giving up fewer than 20 points just five times last season, Detroit is already up to four under-20 efforts in five attempts in 2014. 

The Lions defense also has also directly scored 16 points this season, which represents nearly 20 percent of the team's overall total. Against the Green Bay Packers in Week 3, the defense provided a fumble return for a touchdown and a safety, or nine points in what ended in a 24-7 win. On Sunday, Rashean Mathis' pick-six gave the Lions a comfortable 14-0 lead in the second half. 

It's now on the offense to start pulling its own weight. 

For years, the Lions leaned on Stafford, Johnson and a pass-heavy system to win games by scoring buckets of points and racking up yards. Now, Detroit has the title worthy defense and a suddenly sluggish offense—and the results in the win-loss column have actually remained the same. 

At this point last season, the Lions were 3-2. Fast forward a year, and the team is looking at an identical 3-2 mark. 

To ensure 2014 ends in a different manner than last year, the Lions need to snap out of their offensive funk—even with Johnson likely on the sideline. 

Zach Kruse covers the NFC North for Bleacher Report. 

Follow @zachkruse2