Detroit Lions Weblog

Desperately Seeking Calvin

The Lions offense has been persona non grata during recent games.   Jon Kitna has managed their games more effectively and reduced his turnovers, until Sunday at least.   The Lions boasted a balanced attack recently, again until Sunday. 

During that time, they have been noticeably lacking in explosiveness and execution of big plays.  It is an ever growing mystery that an offense, which appears so daunting at times, has sputtered at critical times throughout the season.

Calvin Johnson is the missing factor in these games in my opinion.   At one point, 16 of his 18 touches were for first downs.   Johnson also was an effective red zone scoring option earlier in the season, an opportunity which seemingly has managed to dry up in recent weeks.

The Lions have got to find a way to harness Johnson’s talents and get him up to speed within this offense.   As effective as Shaun McDonald and Mike Furrey can be, Johnson is the only player who provides the threat necessary to keep teams from rolling coverage towards Roy Williams to limit his effectiveness.

The offensive line can also help the situation, as has been long lamented, by protecting Kitna better.  That being said, the Lions have not been effective in going vertical with their offense, most teams are just dropping their safeties deep and keeping the Lions receivers in front of them.  

The Lions need to recapture that threat, or their offense will more closely resemble the West Coast offense, as opposed to the dynamic offense that Martz purportedly has designed.  Obviously, a solid running game forces those safeties forward, and opens play action deep balls.

There still has to be more available to the Lions.   In upcoming games, they may find themselves unable to run with the ball and need to find ways to maximize their opportunities.  

Exhibit A:The Giants.   In spite of the Giants pass rush, the Lions are going to have to scorch them with a few deep balls, if they are going to stand a chance.  Calvin Johnson needs to exhibit why he is the match-up nightmare that he is, and why he was selected so highly in April.  This game, if you saw any of the highlights of Terrell Owens against the Giants secondary on Sunday, is the one that Johnson needs to break out in.