Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions exited Week 1 likely wanting to put their loss to the Green Bay Packers behind them, but with two new coordinators calling the action, a look back at the game’s snap counts can give us a picture of what to expect in the future.
The Lions offense was on the field a tick longer than usual, due to Green Bay’s defense forcing Goff to dink-and-dunk his way down the field. This was the same approach the Lions took against Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s defense last season, but a stunted run game and the lack of downfield shots left Goff with few answers.
Gibbs not only got the start in this game, but he also outsnapped Montgomery nearly 2:1. It’s possible, and maybe even likely, that Gibbs was used more frequently due to the Lions playing from behind, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see this split continue to lean toward Gibbs moving forward.
Gibbs’ ability to contribute both as a runner (nine carries) and receiver (10 receptions) makes him an even more dynamic weapon than we’ve previously seen, so it makes sense for the Lions to lean into that as much as they can.
Williams outsnapping St. Brown is a bit unusual, but it also illustrates that the Lions plan to use Jamo more than they did in previous seasons. Seeing both WR1 and WR2 on the field for nearly every offensive snap moving forward is probably the standard now.
As for the Lions’ WR3 role, it was expected that the Lions would turn to veteran Raymond early in the season, but TeSlaa showed off his upside with his ridiculous late-game touchdown catch, pointing to the fact that he needs to be used more than just three times a game.
No real surprises here, as the Lions will likely continue to lean on LaPorta for the majority of snaps, with two tight-end sets being deployed on roughly a third of the Lions’ offensive snaps—similarly to what we’ve seen in previous seasons.
