Film Review: Hits and Misses for Lions' Passing Attack

Where Lions went right, wrong against Rams in Week 1 through the air.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams (9). / Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Detroit Lions won ugly Sunday, knocking off the Los Angeles Rams despite not having their best performance.

In particular, the offense had a choppy performance. There were spurts of excellence, headlined by David Montgomery's 91 rushing yards and Jameson Williams' 121 receiving yards. However, quarterback Jared Goff was up-and-down. The veteran finished as the lowest-graded offensive player by Pro Football Focus and was 18-for-28 for 217 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

However, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson had several looks dialed up that resulted in near-misses for the Lions' offense. As a result, there should still be an abundance of optimism surrounding the unit moving into Week 2 as one of the league's best collective offenses.

Here's a look at the hits and misses for Detroit's passing attack in Sunday's game.

Hits

Williams 52-yard touchdown pass from Goff.

Williams' feather in the cap of a career night was his long touchdown grab in the third quarter. Detroit tried going deep to him earlier in the game, but to no avail as he was overthrown while trying to outrun two defenders.

However, the Lions' concept here works like a charm. The Rams have two deep safeties in their alignment. Detroit has three wide to the left, with Amon-Ra St. Brown singled up on the right. On the snap, the safety nearest to St. Brown has his eyes in the backfield, negating help for the corner covering St. Brown.

When St. Brown wins his route, this forces the safety from the far hashmark to rotate over to help. As a result, Williams is singled up with Tre'Davious White. Williams sells the stop in his route hard, then accelerates out and White has no chance to stop him other than wrapping him up.

However, White isn't in position to do anything effective and Williams races by him. Goff's throw is a little behind Williams, but the Alabama product adjusts and is able to get into the end zone.

Jahmyr Gibbs 14-yard pass from Goff.

This was one of the more clever play designs the Lions showed off in Week 1. Lining up with two wide to the right and one to the left, coordinator Ben Johnson calls for Gibbs and St. Brown to flank Goff in the backfield.

Before the snap, St. Brown goes in motion parallel to the line of scrimmage. Because the Lions already have seven on the line, the wideout going toward the line of scrimmage would result in an illegal formation penalty.

As the ball is snapped, all four of the wide receivers go vertical and Gibbs goes from Goff's right to his left to sell pass protection. However, after a beat, he slips out into the flat for a screen pass. Because the linebackers and secondary have been forced to get depth, Gibbs has plenty of real estate.

Center Frank Ragnow has the key block to help spring the gain, as he kicks the defender out allowing Gibbs to run inside off his backside.

Williams 27-yard pass from Goff

This play is another example of the impact that the mere presence of St. Brown has on the Lions' offense. On this rep, St. Brown is one of two lined up out wide, with Sam LaPorta being the other.

St. Brown is sent in motion toward the sideline just before the snap in an effort to get him to full speed going downfield. This strikes some fear into the Rams defense, as they bump St. Brown to the outside corner while the safety takes LaPorta.

Both St. Brown and LaPorta run deep routes, vacating the flat on the left side of the field. Because the Rams are in man coverage, the reponsibility now falls on White to stay with Jameson Williams running a crossing route.

The Lions' offensive line slides to the right on the snap, which sends the Rams linebackers following what they believe to be a run play. Goff sells the play action, and Williams has nothing but green as a result of the linebackers and corners both vacating the middle of the field.

Williams 36-yard pass from Goff.

This explosive play is a similar concept to the one above, as it involves Williams running off a decoy route from St. Brown.

The USC product is singled up to the left of the formation, with Williams and Kalif Raymond on the right. Detroit once again utilizes play action to put the linebackers in a rough spot, and as a result Goff can exploit the Rams' secondary utilizing a single-high safety.

Each of the Lions' routes are designed to get behind the linebackers, giving Goff a window to throw the ball. St. Brown and Williams run almost mirroring crossing routes, with St. Brown running the designated over route. Because the safety initially goes with St. Brown, Williams again has plenty of space.

Misses

Goff intercepted by John Johnson III.

This interception came at a critical juncture for the Lions' offense. Stuck in a rut after the touchdown to Williams, the Lions held a four-point lead early in the fourth quarter and were looking to put the game away.

However, the Rams' defense had other ideas. At this point in the game, St. Brown had just two catches for eight yards. As a result, given the situation, this throw was forced but could've been an effort of Goff simply trusting his primary target.

The Lions try to open up the middle of the field by sending Tom Kennedy, who lined up next to St. Brown, on a hitch route. While this draws two defenders initially, John Johnson is sitting in the middle of the field in anticipation of St. Brown coming his way.

Johnson guesses right, and Goff's throw is just a tad late. Johnson makes an impressive play to hold onto the ball through the contact of the Lions' wideout to generate a big turnover.

Goff incomplete intended for St. Brown

Earlier in the game, the Lions tried to get the ball to St. Brown in a similar fashion. This time, they try to space out the other wideouts and run hitch routes with the outside receivers in an effort to draw attention away from the middle of the field.

The Rams don't bite, though, as a linebacker and a safety are patrolling the middle of the field with eyes on St. Brown. He runs a quick hitch toward the soft spot of the coverage, and is open with separation as Goff finishes his drop.

However, Goff hesitates for a moment with the linebacker closing in. As a result, St. Brown starts to drift toward the middle of the field and the throw falls incomplete.

Goff incomplete intended for Gibbs

During the Lions' two-minute drill at the end of the game, Johnson dialed up a play designed to exploit the Rams' bracket coverage over the middle of the field. Prior to the snap, Williams is sent in motion to give the Lions three wideouts on the left side of the formation.

The Rams are clearly worried about St. Brown, who draws the attention of both safeties with his over route. While the safeties chase St. Brown, it leaves Gibbs isolated on a linebacker. He scoots between the two backers and races free toward the end zone.

The safety on the far side of the field is the last line of defense, and the ball is delivered in a point where he won't be able to catch Detroit's speedy running back. However, Gibbs falls to the turf when trying to adjust his speed to run after Goff's pass in the air and the ball falls incomplete.