Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions coordinators met with media on Thursday to discuss the loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and look forward to Sunday’s game against the New York Giants.
Topics ranged from missing Sam LaPorta, why the defense loves Dan Campbell’s fourth-down aggression, and some thoughts on how to improve the return game on special teams.
Here are my six biggest takeaways:
Third down struggles
After going just 3-of-13 against the Eagles on third down, the Lions now rank 27th in third-down conversion rate for the season. Their 36.0% conversion rate is drastically down from last year’s topp-five figure of 47.6%.
Morton believes it’s mostly an execution problem where players are just not winning their one-on-ones enough.
“That was one of the biggest things we talked with the offense about, just dial in. Dial in your detail and your technique every snap, on third down especially,” Morton said. “Because even what you see in the first quarter might not be what you see in the fourth quarter when the game is on the line. This guy might have a certain technique, he might do something different, he might have a different move. You’ve got to know that and be ready for it.”
Morton praised his players’ football intelligence and said there’s more they can do as a coaching staff, so he believes things wil turn around.
Life without Sam LaPorta
The Lions will be without All-Pro tight end Sam LaPorta for at least the next three games, and his absence was certainly felt last week against the Eagles. When asked when they miss him the most, Morton couldn’t pick one thing.
“All the time. I mean he’s a hell of an all-around blocker, receiver, he can do it all,” Morton said.
Morton has not only accepted the challenge of replacing him in the game plan, but seemed legitimately excited about it.
“This gives everybody else some opportunities and then we have to be creative and that’s the fun part. We love that part gameplanning. I love this,” Morton said. “Trying to figure out things and trying to create mismatches here and there. So, we’ll have a bunch of different packages and looking forward to it. We’ll practice that today on third down. And even on first and second down, we’re putting guys in different spots.”
Recently, the Lions have leaned into more 11 personnel looks (three wide receivers, one tight end) and upped tight end Brock Wright’s playing time. However, Wright, Isaac TeSlaa, and Kalif Raymond combined for just two catches and 8 yards on eight target against the Eagles.
“Someone’s got to step up because that’s a big loss not having LaPorta, there’s no doubt,” Morton said.
Why he LOVES the offense’s fourth down aggression
Many have wondered if the Lions should alter their fourth down aggression, seeing as the defense is playing better than the offense right now. The point being, pin the opponent back and let your defense...
