Lions Have Plan to Improve Jared Goff

Read more on how Ben Johnson plans on improving the Detroit Lions' offense in 2023.

The Detroit Lions' offense made a huge jump in production from the 2021 campaign to this past season. It went from the 25th-best scoring offense (19.1 points per game) to the fifth-most productive offense (26.6 points a game). 

And, a significant chunk of that can be attributed to Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson's strong rapport with Detroit signal-caller Jared Goff.

The 2022 season marked Johnson's first full season of calling plays, and Goff subsequently experienced a career resurgence. 

"We saw him make tremendous growth from the end of last year through training camp," Johnson said of Goff on the Tim Twentyman-hosted "Twentyman in the Huddle" podcast Wednesday. "(During the) bye week, we dove into how he could improve as a player, and I thought we saw the dividends of that in the second half of the season." 

The former L.A. Rams passer went from throwing just 19 touchdowns and 3,245 yards in 2021, to throwing for 29 TDs and 4,438 yards over this past season.

He also produced the fifth-best QBR in all of football in 2022 (61.1), after recording a dismal 39.5 QBR the season prior. 

© Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Now, Johnson has his sights set on taking Goff's play to an even higher level in 2023.

"The good news is this: When he (Goff) comes back in the building, we're going to have another plan of action for him to take another few steps forward, to where he can continue to progress and be an even better player than he was this past year," Johnson told Twentyman. "That's the exciting thing. And, knowing him, he's going to embrace it, and run with it."

While the offense was undoubtedly productive in 2022, it could still take another step forward in the upcoming season. Johnson has a plan for making that a reality, too.

"We just finished (going through) run game last week, and I think at the end of it, you look at it, and you're like, 'Holy cow, how much better can we really become?' And, it's across the board. It's not just one position group," Johnson said. "It's the running backs, if we just tweak this, or we ask them to do this a little bit different. Or with the offensive line, if this technique is just a little bit different. You know, it all adds up. And, I think the staff certainly sees it. And, it's just the challenge of getting the players back in and learning from what we put on tape last year to take the next step."

As part of Johnson's preparations to get the offense to improve as a unit in 2023, he doesn't envision "reinventing the wheel."

"The secret sauce (to improving the offense) is really teaching and executing just a little bit better than we did a year ago," Johnson expressed.