Have Defenses Figured Out Ben Johnson's Offense?

The Detroit Lions have not scored a touchdown in the past two NFL games.

After a hot start to the 2022 NFL season, the Detroit Lions offense is now just as cold as the current weather is in the State of Michigan. 

Having been shutout against the Patriots and only mustering up two field goals against the Cowboys, the unit must now find ways to execute at a high level, limit turnovers and find avenues to be more explosive. 

Based on film review, the Cowboys defense was able to respond quickly to Detroit's blocking schemes. 

Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn had his linemen and linebackers flying to the football, as they were able to recognize and analyze correctly how offensive plays were developing based on pre-snap motions. 

Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson expressed his offense still has variety, is multiple and he does not believe that defenses have caught up to his schematic decisions. 

“Yeah, I think every unit, offense, defense -- I think every unit has tendencies that they develop," Johnson explained. "We take a lot of pride in self-scouting ourselves and taking a look at what the defense is doing and potentially looking to exploit on us and what they’re practicing. 

"So, we mix it up. I think it would be difficult to say that any defense we’ve faced so far has actually practiced a play that we ran in the game," Johnson continued. "Certainly, not identical to how we’ve ran it in the game. We have a lot of variety, we’re very multiple, that’s at our core and we want to continue doing that. So, I don’t believe that defenses are being able to catch up to us. But for us, offensively it comes down to execution.”

Tim Heitman, USA TODAY Sports

Conservative decision-making against Cowboys

Based on D'Andre Swift being unavailable and Amon-Ra St. Brown leaving the game early, Detroit's offense took a conservative approach in Week 7 against Dallas. 

Detroit has not been taking shots deep down the field, as the the game plans the past couple of weeks have leaned heavily on the rushing attack. 

"I’d love to score 50 points every game, but that’s not always the best way to win a football game," Johnson said. "And so, a few weeks ago we talked about head coach (Dan Campbell) having the vision for how the game’s going to be played. And so, we all play a part. All the coordinators, all the coaches, all the players, we all play a part to bring that vision to life. And so, sure last week might have been a little bit more run-orientated and we were in it until the turnovers started happening.”