Inside the Play: How Lions Pulled Off Hook-And-Ladder

How Lions executed big play against Cardinals.

Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (26) celebrates with wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (14). / Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions pulled off a trick play against the Arizona Cardinals.

When Detroit pulled off a hook-and-ladder, which went from Jared Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown to Jahmyr Gibbs, it was the culmination of plenty of time spent working on the eventual end result. The 20-yard pass resulted in a touchdown for Gibbs, who took a lateral from St. Brown and ran the rest of the way for a score late in the first half.

St. Brown explained the challenge that comes with developing the timing of the play, which wound up being impeccable against the Cardinals in the 20-13 Week 3 win.

“You’ve got to catch it and if you get hit before you pitch it, it might be a bad play. But I feel like there’s a lot of plays like that," St. Brown said. "You can get strip-sacked on any play, a reverse can be dangerous, any throw can get picked off. If you play scared, it’s not gonna be good. The hook-and-ladder is a beautiful play. We made it work. It looked good from the first time we ran it to the time we ran it in the stadium.” 

The Lions have ran a similar play in 2022, when they had a short pass from Goff to St. Brown lateraled to D'Andre Swift against the Green Bay Packers. Though St. Brown ultimately wound up on the receiving end of the initial pass on Sunday, Detroit originally planned for the ball to begin in the hands of a different pass-catcher.

“I think it’s kind of the way it happened," St. Brown explained. "It was for (tight end) Sam (LaPorta) in camp and something happened, I think he had like a hamstring. We wanted to run it, so he was like, ‘Saint, you just get out wide and do it.’So I did it, it worked. Ever since then, it was me on the catch and pitch and whoever’s at that tight end making the touchdown block. I think it worked out perfect.” 

Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson noted that the origins of designing the play came from reviewing the way coverages reacted to the short routes that have become a staple in Detroit's offense.

“Yeah, it’s something that we talked about this offseason that was really inspired in the springtime, just watching our own cut ups," Johnson said. "We throw a lot of those five-yard in routes, whether it’s to St. Brown or LaPorta and you just notice the coverage collapsing time and time again whenever we do that, so we were just looking for something that would hit through the back door and it worked out like we wanted to."

The Lions have been one of the league's more high-performing units in recent years. While the offense hasn't always displayed the sort of creativity that it showed on the hook-and-ladder, Johnson indicated that the play is an example of a unique look that Johnson and company can utilize to keep defenses off balance.

"This one was a little bit more choreographed on our end just to make sure it was sound, but I think to your point there’s probably some merit to that," Johnson said. "It’s untouched territory. I think when things haven’t been done before, people kind of get on edge a little bit because they’re not sure how it will unfold, but we felt really good about how that one would play out and maybe opportunities for more down the road.”