Lions film review: How the ground game got going, Goff's decision-making and what went wrong in the second half
Allen Park — Offensively, the Detroit Lions got back to what they do best against the Arizona Cardinals — running the ball with authority and setting up the play-action pass off that success on the ground.
For the first half, it worked like a dream. Splitting the backfield load, running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs combined for 21 carries that averaged 5.2 yards per pop, while quarterback Jared Goff completed all 12 of his passes to five different receivers, registering a perfect passer rating through two quarters. The formula resulted in three touchdowns on four possessions.
Unfortunately, the success didn’t port to the second half. The Lions possessed the ball seven more times, but failed to score another point. Still, thanks to a steady performance from the defense, they were able to grind out a hard-fought victory on the road over one of the NFC’s upstart franchises.
For this week’s film review, we'll look at how the Lions were able to find life with their run game, how that helped Goff to settle into a groove and what went wrong during the scoreless second half.
Ground and pound
Of all the metrics that can define run-game success, a favorite is efficiency. For most teams, that means gaining at least 4 yards on first down, at least half the remaining distance on second down, and successfully converting third or fourth down.
The Lions ran the ball 43 times in the win, with 40 from that tally handoffs to the backs or receivers. Honestly, the success rate on those runs wasn’t as high as you might expect, sitting at 57.5%.
Like most teams in the modern NFL, the Lions run a combination of gap and zone concepts for their backs. Last season, and through the first two weeks of the 2024 campaign, they were nearly evenly split in their approach. But against the Cardinals, the Lions turned heavily to zone concepts, particularly outside zone runs. According to data tracked by Pro Football Focus, the Lions ran zone 73% of the time.