Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions (6-3) and Philadelphia Eagles (7-2) will square off in a Week 11 matchup between two of the best teams in the NFC. This “Sunday Night Football” battle figures to be significant for both teams and will likely have playoff implications that will linger into late January.
“Philadelphia Eagles, good team. Really good team,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said earlier in the week. “I think what’s most glaring about them is that they win. They know how to win. They’ve got a style, they have an identity. They know how to take it to the end of the game, possess the ball, and finish it with it in their hand with a dub. So, they’ve been able to do that, they’ve mastered it.”
If the Lions want to continue their winning ways, they’ll need to follow the keys to victory laid out in this week’s Honolulu Blueprint.
For a detailed look at the opposing scheme, make sure you check out our complementary breakdown piece: Lions Week 11 Preview: Breaking down Eagles’ offensive and defensive schemes.
Heading into the game in Washington, the Lions had failed to reach 100 yards rushing in two of their previous three games. But they changed things up with coach Dan Campbell calling the plays, and the rushing attack exploded for a combined 226 yards on the ground, a season high for the team. So, what changed?
Let’s start on the ground, where the Lions found success using multiple blocking schemes, including outside zone, duo, gap, pin-and-pull, trap blocks, and wham blocks.
The play below is an excellent example of how they flawlessly executed their trap blocks. On the play, tight end Sam LaPorta (No. 87) delivers a wham block on the 3-technique, LG Kayode Awosika slants right, which distracts the MIKE linebacker from seeing RT Penei Sewell close on him. Then, rookie RG Tate Ratledge drives the edge upfield, while LT Taylor Decker locks up the front-side EDGE rusher, with C Graham Glasgow driving to the second level to block the WILL linebacker, and WR Kalif Raymond getting inside leverage on the corner:
We also saw the Lions alter their personnel, increasing their usage of 11 personnel (3 wide receivers, 63.2% of the time, per Next Gen Stats) and Big Sets with a sixth offensive lineman (Dan Skipper, 10.3% of the time), while reducing their deployment of 12 personnel (1 running back and two tight ends, 16.2% of the time). According to Next Gen Stats, the results were notable:
“(The Lions generated) season-highs in offensive success rate (57.4%), explosive rate (19.1%), and EPA per play (+0.44). Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 109 yards out of 11P groupings against the Commanders, the most in a single game in his career and the 7th-most by any player in a game this season.”
Lastly, the flow of the game was much smoother with Campbell calling plays, something offensive coordinator John Morton pointed out in...
