Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions (8-5) and Los Angeles Rams (10-3) will square off in a Week 15 matchup at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
“Very good opponent, playing at a very high level,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said earlier this week. “They’ve got players at every level. Good coaching, productive team. This’ll be a big challenge on the road at their place, but once again, looking forward to this. This is why you’re in it.”
If the Lions want to get back to 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 15 preview: Breaking down Rams’ offensive and defensive schemes.
When two top-five scoring offenses square off, the one that controls the ground game typically has an advantage. Entering Week 15, the Lions boast the No. 1 scoring offense in the NFL, producing on average 30.1 points per game, while the Rams are just behind, registering 29.2 points per game (fourth in the NFL) on average.
Much has been made of the Rams deploying a ton of 13 personnel (1 running back, 3 tight ends, and 1 wide receiver) in order to set up advantageous matchups, but the Lions have leaned into their own version of unique personnel usage, deploying jumbo sets (identified as 11*: 1 RB, 1 TE, 2 WR, and a 6th offensive lineman*).
Here’s an excerpt from Next Gen Stats discussing the Lions’ use of Jumbo (emphasis is the author’s):
The Lions have used jumbo personnel (6+ OL) at the 7th-highest rate this season (9.0%), despite recording their first jumbo snap of the season in Week 6 against the Chiefs. They have averaged 7.9 yards per play across their 72 snaps using jumbo personnel, the 4th-most by any offense to have used jumbo personnel at least 10 times in a season during the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016). This trend has grown even stronger over the past three weeks, as they have used jumbo personnel on over 20% of their snaps in each game since Week 12. This includes Week 14 against the Cowboys when they used jumbo personnel on a season-high 36.8% of snaps, their 3rd-highest rate in a game under Dan Campbell dating back to 2021, including the playoffs.
The Lions’ use of jumbo began as a way to supplement injuries at the tight end position, but their success in forcing teams into unusual and uncomfortable defenses has benefited Detroit. So, how unusual is the heavy use of jumbo? Last week, the Lions used jumbo 23 times against the Cowboys, while the Rams have faced jumbo personnel only 14 times all season. As a result, the Rams have allowed 5.9 yards per play against jumbo (NFL average is 4.5 yards per play, per Next Gen Stats), while the Lions are averaging...
