What's Wrong with Detroit Lions Offense After Week 11 Loss to Cardinals?

Detroit has been living on a prayer for the last few weeks, eking out comebacks wins in dramatic fashion three weeks in a row. The sweet taste of victory covered up some uneven play from the Lions offense.

Just as the 1990s arrived and Bon Jovi's prayers were no longer being answered, Detroit's good fortune ran out in Arizona. The toothless offense struggled all afternoon, floundering like the record sales of hair-metal bands like Warrant and Ratt once their tired acts went out of style. Now the Lions have entered the portion of the Behind the Music episode where major adversity strikes and threatens to tear the band apart.

For Detroit, it's not a drummer addicted to heroin or a fractious rift between the lead singer and guitarist. Instead, it's a decided lack of harmony and creative direction causing the discordance.  

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Judging from the social media reaction to the game, most fingers are pointed squarely at rookie offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi. Many of those fingers come from the middle of the hand. 

Lombardi certainly bears blame. Even though he's only called the plays for 10 NFL games, opponents have figured out his tune. He's the AC/DC drummer of the NFL, playing the same predictable beat in every song.

Arizona sure knew what was coming. Detroit's first play from scrimmage set the uninspiring tone for the entire game. Joique Bell was slammed in the backfield almost as soon as he got the ball for a two-yard loss. Justin Rogers, a beat writer for MLive.com, is spot-on here:

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This is speculative and merits a film study, but LBs are hyper aggressive against Lions first-down runs. Maybe more PA in order on 1st down.

— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) November 16, 2014"

The slow-developing run play on first down is just not working. It hasn't worked for some time. In looking at the play-by-play books from the last four games, the tally isn't pretty.

	1st Down Runs	Yards	Avg.	TFL
New Orleans	13	22	1.7	4
Atlanta	8	10	0.8	3
Miami	14	53	3.8	3
Arizona	10	41	4.1	3

The few successes, including two Joique Bell scampers which produced 13 and 21 yards against Arizona, came on quick-hitting handoffs where the run was designed to go outside the box. 

Not being able to reliably pick up yards on first down creates problems on second and third down. For Detroit's offensive line, that's putting too much pressure on a struggling unit to protect Matthew Stafford in obvious passing situations. 

Bad things tend to happen when the defense knows what's coming. As an example, here safety Rashad Johnson comes up with an interception as the Lions faced a clear passing situation on 3rd-and-13:

Again, predictability is part of the issue. On 3rd-and-long, Arizona correctly ascertained Stafford was going to look for Johnson. But they were also easy to decipher in other third-down situations, as noted by ESPN's Michael Rothstein:

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The play calling Sunday in third down situations was particularly rough and somewhat predictable. Twice on Sunday, including on the Lions' first drive of the game, the team ran the ball on third-and-short and failed to get the one yard necessary to continue the drive. That first third down, a handoff to Jed Collins, was fairly obvious to those who have seen Detroit play this season because it is something the Lions have done before. 

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Stafford was too attached to targeting Calvin Johnson on any down in this game.

It's hard to criticize any quarterback for wanting to throw the ball as often as possible to a superlative talent like Johnson. In this game, Stafford managed to cross that fragile line. The Cardinals were ready for the Megatron experience:

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Went back and re-watched a chunk of the first half. Cardinals slipping a LB/nickel underneath, talking away Calvin on slants and posts.

— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) November 16, 2014"

Despite the auxiliary coverage, Stafford still threw 12 of his 30 passes toward Johnson. He caught just five, netting 59 yards while playing with an elbow injury requiring an "unusual" level of treatment after the game:

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Calvin Johnson still getting treatment, 10 minutes after all other players left locker room. This is highly unusual.

— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) November 17, 2014"

Detroit's other wideouts saw a combined three passes. Golden Tate, who entered the week third in the NFL in receptions and sixth in yards per game, caught two passes for 41 yards. Those were the only balls thrown his way. 

That's akin to going to an in-their-prime Guns N' Roses concert and not hearing "Paradise City" or "Rocket Queen." Sure, you still get the ubiquitous "Welcome to the Jungle" performance of Johnson, but without the balance of the other great hits like Tate provides, the show is a disappointment. 

In Arizona, Stafford had serious trouble finding any open targets. Arizona's defense certainly deserves some credit for playing a great game: 

"

the secondary is playing out of its mind...from the press box, there is no one open

— doug franz (@doug987FM) November 16, 2014"

Stafford himself acknowledged how well Arizona's secondary performed in his postgame comments:

He also broached a painful subject, one rearing its ugly head like a deposed lead singer trying to wrest away the bass player for a new band: Penalties. 

Detroit committed three accepted offensive penalties in Arizona: a facemask, a hold and an obvious offensive pass interference call on Eric Ebron. Just as with the ineffective runs, the Lions cannot afford the negative plays when trying to claw back from an early deficit.

Predictability is a death knell against a good, aggressive defense like Arizona. The blitzing presented real problems, to be sure. At one point a Fox graphic noted the Cardinals had blitzed on 16 of Stafford's 22 dropbacks.

Yet blitzes also create holes in the defense. Stafford couldn't seem to locate those holes, as he was fixated on Johnson or was running for his life behind two replacements on the right side of the line. 

On first look, rookie right guard Travis Swanson appeared to play well in his first start in relief of injured Larry Warford. Right tackle, however, remains a serious issue. LaAdrian Waddle has been in and out of the lineup with injuries. He left this game early in the second half. MLive.com's Kyle Meinke reported after the game:

"

The most notable injury suffered against Arizona affected right tackle LaAdrian Waddle, who left the game in the second half with a foot issue. He did not return, and rookie Cornelius Lucas finished the game in his place.

Coach Jim Caldwell declined to give an update after the game, and Waddle politely declined to comment to MLive.

Waddle has now either missed or left seven of Detroit's 10 games this season.

"

The instability impacts the whole line. Undrafted rookie Cornelius Lucas has had to play a lot more than anticipated, and he often proves why he went undrafted last May. Lucas is a long-term project, not ready for a blitzkrieg like Arizona unleashes. 

There are other questions for Lombardi that only he can answer:

• Where was Joseph Fauria in this game?
• Why so few quick slants or screens to help negate the pass rush?
• How come so few third-down passes are thrown to targets beyond the needed yardage?

It's frustrating to see a unit with so much potential flounder like this Detroit offense is doing right now. The conductor is not drawing the desired harmony from all the instruments. 

Charles Sykes/Associated Press

Just as some bands adapted their sound and continued to thrive decades after their initial heyday, the Lions offense has the potential to strike a new chord. Bon Jovi released a country album to critical acclaim and commercial success, after all. 

It's time for Lombardi to change the tune of his offensive scheme and play-calling. The talent is still in place to make beautiful music, but the playlist is stale and the instruments out of tune. 

All statistics are from Pro Football Reference or NFL.com.