Film Review: Lions' Offense Sizzling Ahead of Regular Season Finale

Explore how Lions exploited 49ers defense on Monday Night Football.

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) shakes hands with wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (14). / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions offense had one of its best games of the season in a year that has seen them perform at an elite level.

Behind a stellar game plan from Ben Johnson and another strong night from quarterback Jared Goff, the Lions hung up 40 points and totaled 439 yards of offense en route to a 40-34 shootout win over the San Francisco 49ers.

Goff completed 26-of-34 passes for 303 yards and three touchdowns in yet another stellar primetime performance.

Here's a look at what made Goff and the offense so successful throughout Monday's game.

Hook-and-ladder

Once again, Johnson got into his bag of tricks at a pivotal moment early in the game. On this drive, Detroit was backed into a second-and-23 after a holding penalty on Penei Sewell and a sack by Nick Bosa.

After Goff hit Jahmyr Gibbs for 11 yards, the Lions got into a third-and-12. Though it was still early in the second quarter, it felt like a pivotal situation for Detroit with how its defense had struggled to stop the 49ers early. As a result, Johnson dialed up the hook-and-ladder once again.

As Amon-Ra St. Brown explained after the game, the ideal look for this play is for the defense to be in off-coverage, which would allow for a free release and make the short completion from Goff much easier. However, the 49ers are pressed up against the line of scrimmage.

St. Brown is able to gain inside leverage on his release, and Goff gets the ball out quickly. Williams is coming full-speed from the opposite direction, and while the throw is low, St. Brown makes an impressive play to pitch the ball before being touched down on the turf.

Williams makes the catch and turns the corner, with the safety taking an improper angle he's able to race up the sideline. Sam LaPorta and Tim Patrick throw key blocks, and the rest is history.

Jameson Williams' big grab

While Williams scored two touchdowns in the first half, he may have made his biggest play early in the third quarter. With the Lions facing a third-and-5 from the San Francisco 48-yard line and trailing by eight, they needed a conversion to prevent the 49ers from getting a chance to add to their lead.

The key route on this play is Tim Patrick's short out route, which diverts the attention of linebacker Fred Warner. Because the Lions' offense is so dependent on timing, there's a small window of opportunity and Patrick's ability to pull Warner out from the middle of the field creates enough space for Goff to get the ball to Williams.

Running back Sione Vaki runs to the flat, and Patrick runs an out, with both running backs pulling linebackers out from the middle of the field. Williams breaks in at around 10 yards, and Goff delivers a strike after baiting the safety with a quick look to his left.

Go-ahead touchdown

After an interception by Kerby Joseph, the Lions are driving down the field 28-24. Facing a fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line with under a minute to go in the third quarter. Given Dan Campbell's nature, it was no surprise to see the offense stay on the field rather than kick a field goal that would've cut the lead to one point.

Goff sends Tim Patrick in motion pre-snap, which helps identify the type of coverage the 49ers are playing. Nobody follows Patrick across the formation, indicating that it is in fact zone defense.

The Lions have a zone-beating route concept on the right side. Jameson Williams runs to the back pylon, while St. Brown has an underneath flat route. This creates a hi-low read on the play-side corner. Because the corner stays between the two, the option is to throw short to St. Brown.

Goff does just that, rifling the ball to St. Brown who gets into the end zone for the go-ahead score.

Fourth down conversion to LaPorta

After a missed field goal, the Lions get the ball back with the opportunity to put the game on ice. Once again, they found themseleves in a fourth-down situation from the 49ers' 45-yard line.

Detroit lines up in an empty set, with Jahmyr Gibbs lined up wide to the left along with two other receivers. Gibbs motions in pre-snap, and his matchup follows him. Detroit has an advantage here, as linebackers tend to have a difficult time staying with the speedy Gibbs in coverage.

Gibbs runs to the middle of the field, taking Warner with him. Jameson Williams runs an out, and all the movement leaves Sam LaPorta wide open for the first down.

It appears as though there is a miscommunication in the 49ers' secondary. Warner is running with Gibbs, but safety Malik Mustapha goes to cover the running back on the snap. Mustapha appears to be the player matched up with LaPorta pre-snap, and because he leaves it allows LaPorta to have a free release and ultimately convert the fourth down with a 19-yard game.

Detroit would go on to kick a field goal and extend its lead to 34-28 with 10:29 remaining.

Gibbs seals the deal

The Lions got the ball back on another interception by Joseph, and as a result have the opportunity to go for the knockout punch. After getting the ball back with 7:34 remaining, the Lions are letting the clock roll but are facing a pivotal third-and-2 as the clock approaches three minutes remaining.

Pre-snap motion sends Jahmyr Gibbs into the backfield, and linebacker Fred Warner follows to that side of the ball. This puts Warner in a bad spot, as Gibbs is taking an outside handoff going the other way. With how Detroit blocks this play, Warner gets caught in the wash.

Penei Sewell does a good job on the outside edge of blocking Nick Bosa in, which creates Gibbs' path to the sideline. Wide receiver Tim Patrick does an excellent job blocking down field, and Gibbs is able to finish the run with a burst of speed into the end zone.

Worth noting

One other tidbit from the Lions' offense in Monday night's game — late in the second quarter, Johnson teased a unique look. Sewell lined up in the slot and took a fake handoff on an end-around.

The Lions have already handed the ball to Sewell on a play like this on Thanksgiving, so this could be a teaser for what's to come the rest of the year. He took the fake and ran into the flat, and the 49ers left the flat open.

With Johnson's ability to set up plays weeks in advance, if an opponent gives a look similar to what Detroit got on this play, Sewell could catch a pass in Week 18 or the postseason and make a big play in a pivotal situation.