Burning Question: Has Ben Johnson Become Too Predictable?
Undeniably, Jared Goff has played his worst football of the season the last two weeks.
He's turned it over a total of six times, and outside of the the last four-or-so minutes against the Bears in Week 11, has failed to put the Lions in a position to win.
It's a far cry from the MVP-level quality of play he delivered for the majority of the first half of the season.
Yet, the veteran signal-caller shouldn't be the only one to blame for the team's recent offensive woes.
Specifically on Thursday against the Packers, there were many times where Detroit's typically stout offensive line failed to adequately protect him.
In fact, in the first half of the Lions’ Thanksgiving tilt with Green Bay, Goff was pressured on a staggering 45 percent of his dropbacks (nine of 20). Additionally, the shoddy protection contributed to the Packers’ three sacks, including on Rashan Gary's strip-sack of Goff in the first quarter.
All in all, it was a forgettable performance from Taylor Decker and his offensive linemen counterparts. They repeatedly let Goff down, plus allowed Gary and Co. to wreak havoc against Detroit's starter under center.
As bad as Goff and the offensive line were, though, there is one more individual to blame for the team's offensive struggles Thursday: Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
He's been a mastermind for most of the season, helping the Lions amass the sixth-most points (294) and the second-most yards (4,460) in the league. However, he didn't bring his “A game” in Detroit's second outing of the season with the Packers.
One of the most glaring issues with Johnson's gameplan Thursday was his reliance on the team's run game. He dialed up far too many run plays with Detroit down by two and three scores.
One of the most notable instances of this came at the start of the second quarter. With the Lions trailing by 14 points, 20-6, Johnson drew up five run plays on an eight-play drive that went for 34 yards and resulted in a Jack Fox punt.
There is something to say for Johnson not going away from Detroit's “bread and butter” on offense – its ground game – despite the Packers jumping to the early lead. However, you can also make the argument that the second-year offensive play-caller should've changed up his philosophy and been more forward-thinking with the Lions down by two scores. To me, this would've been the perfect time to mix in a downfield strike from the passing game.
Yet, Johnson decided to stay vanilla on this drive and for most of the game, and the Packers – even with big-time defensive contributors like Jaire Alexander and De’Vondre Campbell unable to play – were more than prepared for it.
Johnson was not the biggest reason why the Lions struggled to move the football in this Week 12 divisional matchup.
I attribute the ineffective play much more to Goff and his failure to take care of the football, plus the shoddy performance of the offensive line.
Yet, Johnson, as a result of his predictable play-calling, should definitely not go unscathed. He, too, deserves to shoulder some of the blame for Detroit's disappointing offensive output Thursday.
