Lions Film Room: Diving into what's wrong with the Detroit offense

At this point, I probably sound like a broken record regarding all of the problems with the Detroit Lions. Specifically with the Lions offense, I have been highly disappointed with the lack of execution coming from within this group. Especially over the last two months, it hasn't been good enough nor is it living up to the standard of what Detroit Lions football is all about.

Spare me with the 'same old Lions' talk, too.

This team is far from those days. The feeling of the product we've watched this season, or with how the team is built, it's nothing like those "SOL" days. However, there's a new standard with this team and the Lions aren't meeting that standard. Fortunately, they're really not that far off from meeting or exceeding those expectations, especially on the offensive side of the football.

While there have been struggles, there's also been plenty of success from the Lions' offense. Currently, the Lions average the 3rd-most yards with 376.3 yards per game. They only trail the Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys. In addition to this, their 29.2 points per game are tied (Seahawks) for 3rd most in the NFL. They only trail the Dallas Cowboys and Indianapolis Colts. Adding to that, the Lions' 26 passing touchdowns are tied for 2nd in the NFL, and their 16 rushing touchdowns are 4th-most in the NFL.

The struggles with this offense stem from their lack of execution on 3rd and 4th down. On the season, the Lions are 58-for-150 on 3rd downs. That 38.7% conversion rate is 18th in the NFL. But as we know, this football team is known for how they live and die on 4th downs.

Recently, the Lions have really struggled on 4th down by going 0-for-7 in their last 3 games. It's worth noting that the Lions didn't attempt to convert on 4th down in Week 12 against the Giants. On the season, the Lions are 13-for-25 (52%) on 4th down, but prior to the Eagles game, they were 13-for-18 (72%). If they convert on three or four of those 4th down plays in recent weeks, we may be talking about a football team with 8 or 9 wins. There are many different factors into what's going on with this Lions team. Let's dive into the film room to see what's wrong with the Lions offense!

Let's start with the first play of the game for the Lions on Thanksgiving. The Lions come out under center with two receivers (Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams) split-out wide to the right. Condensed to the formation are offensive tackle Dan Skipper and tight end Ross Dwelley. With Skipper on the left and Dwelley on the right, the Lions are balanced up front. At least, that's what it looks like on paper.

However, the Packers defense is able to manipulate the Lions offense due to this formation. If you look at the play above, you'll see Packers CB 24 Carrington Valentine pressed to the line-of-scrimmage and on the outside shoulder of Packers EDGE 52 Rashan Gary. For Valentine, his job is pretty simple: just read the run. He doesn't have to honor Skipper as a pass-catcher because the odds of him running a route are relatively slim, and even if he does, the odds of him getting far are even slimmer. So with that, the Packers give themselves an advantage on the left side of the offense by having defenders closer to the line of scrimmage to fill gaps or chase runs down from the backside.

That's part of what happens on this zone run. Looking at the play above, we see Packers EDGE 52 Rashan Gary cross the face of Dan Skipper, and despite Skipper slightly washing him down, this allows the safety to buzz down and fill in the run game. Meanwhile, and most importantly, the Lions have a huge miscommunication issue on the interior of their offensive line. Whether it be LG Kayode Awosika, C Trystan Colon or RG Tate Ratledge, they all attack the nose tackle (who shifts late to become a shade), but nobody comes off to take Packers LB 58 Isaiah McDuffie.

This leads to an easy fill for McDuffie and the rest of the defense pursues to help make the tackle on Gibbs. The result is a two-yard gain for the Lions but it could have led to more if there had been better communication and execution from the offensive line. There have been some people who blame Lions QB Jared Goff on this play because he tripped, but I don't believe that to be the case. Reason being, the offensive line is stepping to their right and the lone linebacker on the right is left uncovered. I cannot envision the Lions designing this play to cut back to the left with a cornerback and safety left uncovered while crashing down.

Moving to the next play, I want to focus on one specific thing and that is why are these routes being ran so deep? Looking at the play above, the Lions are without their best receiver and come out 3x1 with every route being ran beyond the first down marker. Regardless of what data shows, we all know that the Lions offensive line has been struggling this year.

Why put them in a position to hold blocks for even longer — especially if you're a team that frequently goes for it on 4th down? Now sure, Lions QB Jared Goff has to start taking shots down the field. If these are the routes that are being drawn up, take a shot and see what happens. But nothing about the play above indicates that it just falls on Goff or the protection.

The offensive staff in Detroit needs to know their personnel and the situation of their offense and find ways to put them in spots to be more successful. Having four routes all go vertical beyond 15 yards is not manageable nor is it the way that Goff has found success in Detroit or his career.

I've said this many times during my coaching career and just watching film, the little things are the big things. There are a lot of things that go wrong on the play above but none of them impact the play quite as big as Lions LG Kayode Awosika losing his 1-on-1 rep against the defensive tackle.

Looking at the play above, the Lions come out under center in the I-formation, and they're looking to run a simple Iso play. The mindset here has to be to get downhill, gain positive yards and with Jahmyr Gibbs running the ball, anything can happen. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen.

The biggest issue with this play is that Lions LG 74 Kayode Awosika stops his feet & allows the DT to penetrate while working outside-in to the RB. This run hits for more than two yards if he wins the rep. But it's not just Awosika losing on this rep. Watch Lions WR 18 Isaac TeSlaa allow the safety to come down and get underneath his block. Meanwhile, the combo block between Lions C 57 Trystan Colon & Lions RG 69 Tate Ratledge has to get cleaned up. The two of them need better communication off their double team so they can get to the linebacker.

Overall, it's hard to pinpoint the problems within the Lions offense to any one player, one play or even coaching. It's a combination of all of it. So when Dan Campbell talks to the media and says, "it's one play here or one player there or better play call on this situation," he's telling the truth. Now, sure, the scheme is not perfect, even though John Morton makes it seem to be that way. But neither is the execution.

That's the beauty of football. From coaches to players and their execution, it takes everyone involved for it to be successful. As quickly as it feels like the season has turned upside down, the Lions could turn it around in the snap of a finger. Fixing some of the issues that I've brought up in this article will help because the reality is that the Lions offense is not that far off from turning the corner for the better. While the Lions are slowly running out of time, they still have time to put it all together. And it has to start on Thursday against the Cowboys.

This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Lions Film Room: Diving into what's wrong with the Detroit offense