Blogging The Boys
When the Cowboys take the field Thursday night in Detroit, they won’t be going up against the offensive juggernaut the Lions have become known for, and that’s not just because the Lions will be missing both Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta.
The Lions lost both coordinators in the offseason, with Ben Johnson taking the Bears job and Aaron Glenn taking the Jets job. Dallas lost to Johnson and beat Glenn, so this game can serve as the tiebreaker in the Dan Campbell Invitational. But those coaches’ departures spurred plenty of offseason debate over how Detroit could survive without them.
On offense, life after Ben Johnson has been a mixed bag.
Campbell replaced Johnson with John Morton, a seasoned coaching veteran who had been with the Lions as a senior offensive assistant in Johnson’s first year as coordinator, assisting with the creation of the offense. But Morton hadn’t called plays since 2017, when he did so for a very bad Jets team.
Early on, Morton’s tenure with the Lions was going considerably better. Over the first five weeks, Morton’s offense was fifth in EPA/play and third in success rate, and Jared Goff was putting up MVP numbers. For a moment, it looked as if Campbell had aced his most consequential hire since becoming head coach.
Then, something changed. A poor showing on the road in Kansas City looked to be a minor setback against an elite defense, but an uneven performance the next week against the Buccaneers left Detroit with questions heading into their bye. A slow start in their next game preceded a loss to the Vikings, their second within the division.
Over that four week span, the Lions went from fifth and third to 19th in EPA/play and 24th in success rate. There was no real explanation for why the offense had suddenly fallen off a cliff, but it had. The run game wasn’t eating up yards the way it had been, and Goff was either holding onto the ball far too long or throwing costly interceptions while trying to force something that wasn’t there.
So Campbell took matters into his own hands. Against the Commanders, and without any sort of announcement beforehand, the head coach started calling plays himself.
It wasn’t the first time he’s done it, of course. Campbell’s first year with the Lions saw him take over play-calling from Anthony Lynn – ironically, now with the Commanders – about halfway through the year. He helped lead them to an improved offense and a few wins down the stretch before handing the reins over to Johnson.
Campbell’s first game back in the saddle went very well. The Lions scored 44 points and blew out the Commanders, even while losing LaPorta for the year to an injury. But that was against a Commanders defense that was itself so bad that their head coach, Dan Quinn, took over play-calling recently as well.
Since then, Campbell’s offense has been shut down by the Eagles, exploded against the Giants, and...
