Coordinator recap: Lions reaping rewards for offseason focus, team likes Smith's inside-out potential

Detroit’s pass-catchers have only allowed four passes to hit the ground through the first eight games. (Getty Images)

Allen Park — In 2023, the Detroit Lions were one of the NFL’s worst with dropped passes. According to STATS, LLC., the team put 35 catchable throws on the ground, 5.8% of the team’s targets. Both total and rate ranked bottom-five in the league.

This year, the Lions have made a complete turnaround in that area. Through eight games, they’ve dropped just four passes. Only the Eagles have been better. I asked offensive coordinator Ben Johnson if there was anything specific that led to the change.

“(We) highlighted that in the springtime, made it known to each position group,” Johnson said. “They were all at fault — receivers, quarterback, for ball placement at times, tight ends, running backs. It was really everybody. And so, we’ve made it a big emphasis, and so far, we’ve seen some results from it.”

Detroit’s focus was particularly impressive against Green Bay last Sunday, when wind and rain added to the challenge.

“That particular game, I was kind of coming out in pregame expecting to see us struggle a little bit more, but they, between wearing the right shoes, not slipping, focusing on the football, securing it after we caught it, I mean, I thought they did a phenomenal job.”

Have your fun

During the broadcast of Sunday’s game between the Lions and Packers, Fox cameras repeatedly showed defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, who was soaking wet with rain droplets covering his glasses.

Still shots of the scene have become the source of memes and Glenn said he’s seen them all.

“Listen, this thing is really getting out of hand,” Glenn said. “I am not a social media person, I’m not, but I have three kids and they’re grown and my wife of 28 years — and let me say this first off, she told me I was so much better up here last time because I smiled, so I want to make sure she sees this.

“Man, for all the memes or whatnot that people have been sending me about that — and I had no idea, I really didn’t — ,an, I was just locked in trying to call the best game I can, knowing that was a quality opponent,” Glenn continued. “The best one I’ve seen was the one that (Amon-Ra St. Brown) Saint put together where he had his Green Bay shirt on or whatnot and he put my face on his. But this thing is getting out of hand.”

I had a few minutes between press conferences Thursday, so I added a Glenn meme to the mix.

Gunner popping

According to the DVOA metric, which attempts to establish down-to-down value of a unit, the Lions have the best special teams group in football. That's hardly a surprise with Jack Fox on pace to set a new NFL record for net punting, Jake Bates a perfect 12-for-12 on field goals tries, and both the punt and kickoff return units ranking first.

Like everything in football, success is a measure of all 11 players on the field operating jointly, but I asked coordinator Dave Fipp if anyone from his groups deserved attention for their under-the-radar contributions this season.

“I don’t know if I would say a higher level than I expected, but I think (cornerback Kindle) Vildor has done a really good job for us as one of our gunners,” Fipp said. “Everyone focuses on (Khalil) Dorsey, and he gets a lot of attention. Because of that, Dorsey gets the double teams, and then if you can (effectively) single the other (gunner), well, then, it’s a tough day for you in coverage. But Vildor’s been able to show up for us on the backside when he’s got the one-on-ones and really helps us out.”

Vildor has played 117 snaps on special teams this season and will likely set a new career-high workload this week against Houston, topping the 123 he logged for Chicago in 2021.

One play at a time

Quarterback Jared Goff has competed 82.8% of his throws over the past six games, registering a passer rating of 140.1 during that stretch. Many in the building, including Goff, have tried to downplay the remarkable success, but not Johnson.

Johnson applied Goff’s play-by-play consistency to a lesson he learned from a coaching mentor, former University of North Carolina offensive coordinator John Shoop.

“I still remember him when I was a quarterback at Carolina, he said, ‘Man I don’t know if you guys can go 18-18, but I know you can go one-for-one 18 times.’” Johnson recalled. “It feels like that’s what’s going on with Jared and (Amon-Ra) St. Brown right now, their connection in particular. Just Jared, as a whole, each play is its own play and he knows where to go with the football, he’s putting it in a good spot for our guys to not only catch it but, also, run after the catch.

“I think he’ll tell you, he’s just playing disciplined football and distributing on out,” Johnson said. “For me as a play-caller, it just makes me want to call more and more passes right now. The issue has been, we just haven’t gotten many plays. The last five games we’re only averaging like 58 plays a game right now, and normally we’re over 70, so we’re not able to get to all of our good stuff at the moment.”

It’s interesting to hear Johnson highlight his desire to call more passes, given the team’s success on the ground has been one of the primary culprits for the reduced snaps per contest.

That said, it’s tough to complain when you’re leading the NFL in scoring.

Homecoming on deck

This week is a homecoming for Glenn, who was born and raised near Houston, later playing at Nimitz High School in the city.

Additionally, Glenn signed with the Texans as a free agent in the first year of the franchise’s existence, playing three years for the team and earning a Pro Bowl appearance in 2002.

That stint from his playing days has always carried special meaning for the coach.

“Listen, I was leaving the Jets that I had an eight-year run with, and, listen, that was tough to leave that place because I really enjoyed playing there,” Glenn said. “But I really looked forward to going home and playing in my hometown, to be able to play in front of my family and friends.

“I really took that as an opportunity to, ‘Man, how can I put my stamp on this team,’ knowing it was a new franchise,” Glenn said. “I wanted to do everything I could to lead by example, and I thought I did that because I know that me and (defensive lineman) Gary Walker were like the first two guys to make a Pro Bowl from an expansion team. I was really proud of that because I felt like I did exactly what I wanted to do, put my stamp on (things), so guys could actually follow and understand what we’re trying to do to be a really good team. The record wasn’t what we wanted, but I thought, defensively, we did a pretty good job.”

Next man up

The Lions are relatively healthy, but the team faces the prospect of being down two of its top special teams performers with linebackers Jalen Reeves-Maybin (neck) and Malcolm Rodriguez (ankle) sidelined by injury the first couple of days of practice this week.

I asked Fipp about the challenge of being down two of the unit's leaders and the coach made it clear it’s up to the depth to step up if needed.

“I think the biggest thing is if you have a bunch of good players then everybody can kind of share the load a little bit,” Fipp said. “It’s an opportunity for somebody to come up and play, last week (Loren) Strickland came up. We played (James) Houston a little bit more, (Pat) O’Connor a little bit more, so some other players maybe play a little bit more. (Shane) Zylstra, obviously, is playing more for us than he was.

“We’ve had a lot of depth on the roster, and these guys have been here, so even if they haven’t been playing, they’ve been practicing and doing a lot of things that we ask them to do on game day now. So it’s not like they’ve never done any of it.”

Not just an edge threat

Trade acquisition Za’Darius Smith will join the team on Friday, and his status for Sunday’s game will be determined after that. Glenn said the decision will ultimately be coach Dan Campbell's to make.

Whether it’s this week or next that Smith makes his debut, Glenn said he’s excited by the ability to line up across the front.

“The first thing that everybody sees with this player is the edge presence that he has,” Glenn said. “He’s tough, he’s been doing it for a long time, he’s tough in the run game, he can set an edge, which we really look forward to seeing him do. But then he has a knack for really going inside and being able to capture an edge on third down against guards. Listen, (Aidan Hutchinson) Hutch can do that, but Z, and the body type he has, man, he’s really good at doing that.

“…The more that we look at him and see what he likes as a player, we’re going to use him in those situations.”