Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions offense is in a bit of a funk, and the team is actively searching for answers. While the team ranks second in the NFL in points per game (29.9), they haven’t been nearly as efficient as of late. Since Week 6, they’re averaging just 21.7 points per game, rank 19th in EPA/play, and 23rd in success rate.
But despite the significant dip in production, Lions coach Dan Campbell believes just a minor change here or there could turn things around in a big way.
“You’d be shocked by—you tweak one little thing, I’m telling you, you tweak one little thing and all of a sudden it just cleans everything up and it just takes off, and the knock in the engine is gone,” Campbell said. “It can appear to be—it’s not as bad as people think it is. And it really doesn’t take much, just a little tightening here.”
Campbell knows this may sound familiar. He’s said similar things in the previous couple weeks when the offensive problems started to creep in. But he believes he has a well of solutions that can help the team out.
“I’ve got a million ideas, and I believe it’s going to work this week,” Campbell said. “And if it doesn’t, I’ve got another idea. I’ve got plenty. We’ll get this thing going. But I trust these players, I like the plan.”
Obviously, Campbell wasn’t in a hurry to divulge such little tweaks, but he did offer some examples from his past.
“Part of it could be with the way the game is called. It could be, maybe rhythm of how you call it,” Campbell said. “It could be what you go to. It could be who you’re trying to get involved.”
This isn’t the first time the Lions offense has hit a snag under Campbell. Back in 2023, the Lions went on this three-game stretch after starting the season 8-2:
With morale low and expectations declining, the Lions came out of that loss to the Bears by putting a 42-17 hurting on the Broncos, and eventually made a run all the way to the NFC Championship Game. It’s not a perfect one-to-one comparison, but it does show how quickly perceptions can change with just one big performance.
That said, Campbell admitted he does like it when the team is being underestimated or overlooked.
“It’s good to be a little bit of an afterthought again. It’s nice,” Campbell said. “It’s like, ‘Hey man, all good.’ There’re some teams playing some good football, and we’re whatever, and that’s all good, man. This is good. We’ll go about our business over in the corner and get our stuff right and come out humming.”
