Dan Campbell has identified the Lions’ biggest issues, and it’s the difference between being good and unstoppable
Luckily, this is a fixable thing
The Detroit Lions’ bye week is over, and they had a good first quarter of the season, starting 5-2. Right now, they have the top-ranked defense by DVOA and the fifth-ranked offense. Things look like they’re going pretty well, but there are two problems.
One problem that we identified is not scoring after forcing turnovers, and the other one comes right from the head coach.
The Lions are having a lot of problems converting on third down
“We are not getting the plays that we normally get because we are not converting like we should on third down,” Campbell said Monday. “Third down is the most glaring thing right now. We have to be better. It’s right there. That’s the thing, Johnny (John Morton) and I have looked at. That’s the big focus for us.”
Campbell went on to say that’s not just the third-and-longs that the Lions are having trouble with. They’re struggling to convert on third-and-manageable, too. Third-and-manable being that third-and-4 through fourth-and-6 region.
He’s right. There has been a stark drop-off in this category. The Lions finished last season converting on 46.9% of their third-down attempts. That was fourth in the league. This year, they’re only converting on 37.6%. That’s 21st in the league. In the manageable department Campbell was talking about, the Lions are converting 47% of their plays. That’s down from 59% last year.
Still being 5-2 is a sign that this is a good football team. If the Lions can get this fixed — which is not a huge thing that takes weeks and weeks to fix — they’re likely to be extremely dangerous down the stretch, a perfect time to have all your ducks in a row.
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