Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions have a pivotal stretch of football upcoming, yet they will be without some pivotal players for at least some of it.
Even with the good news surrounding Amon-Ra St. Brown’s injury, he figures to miss a week or two recovering from the ankle injury sustained in the loss to the Green Bay Packers. The Lions were already without a go-to option in Sam LaPorta, with the tight end likely to miss the rest of the season. Down two star players, plus injuries to Graham Glasgow, Brock Wright, and Kalif Raymond, the Lions offense is on unstable ground. Detroit is no stranger to dipping into their depth chart, but this may be their first true test of their offensive depth.
Today’s Question of the Day is:
My answer: Run the ball to the right side.
I will not go into the nitty-gritty of what makes offensive playcalling successful or unsuccessful, but looking at the current Lions roster, it is very clear where their strengths and weakness lie. The Lions will be missing their top-two pass catching options in St. Brown and LaPorta. Jameson Williams has made strides as a pass catcher, but as the only notable receiver on the field, can he succeed when all of the defense’s eyes are on him? With no depth at wide receiver and tight end, the Lions might have to become one-dimensional—at least to start.
If running the ball is the name of the game, then running to the right side of the offensive line is Detroit’s best option. You can take Pro Football Focus grades with a grain of salt, but even the largest grain of salt cannot discount Penei Sewell’s league-leading run blocking grade of 97.7—the next closest lineman is Colton McKivitz with a grade of 90.7. The right guard, Tate Ratledge, has had struggles in pass protection, but his run blocking has been second-best on the team by a fair margin.
Per PFF, when running towards the left side of the offensive line, Jahmyr Gibbs is averaging 4.6 yards per attempt. When running towards the right side, Gibbs is averaging 7.2 yards per attempt. The same is true for David Montgomery, albeit less drastic, averaging 3.9 yards per attempt towards the left and 4.9 yards per attempt towards the right. Despite this significant difference, the Lions have ran a nearly even split, rushing 151 times towards the left and 154 times towards the right (not including jet sweeps or end arounds).
In 2025, Gibbs is averaging 7.4 yards per carry in wins. In losses, he is averaging just 3.2 yards per carry. For as much as the Lions have relied on St. Brown and LaPorta this season, the player most integral to their success is Gibbs—they flat out cannot win when he is not playing well. If the Lions cannot run the ball, the threat of Williams in the passing game is reduced.
With the Lions missing St....
