Lions Film Study: The offenses third-quarter struggles come down to just three things that went wrong
Just three devastating plays was all it took to change this game
The Detroit Lions actually played a good game on Sunday. I know nobody is willing to believe that because they lost and gave up 40 points, but they handled their business. The problem is that they only did it for three quarters. In one quarter, they were bad; all hell broke loose.
The big problem was the third quarter. Let’s talk about what went wrong for them there, and we’ll refer to the video on this. For starters, the Lions’ offense ran just eight plays in the entire period. Here’s where it all started going downhill:
Clip 1: Where it all started going downhill
Lions head coach Dan Campbell said he wanted to get the run game going in the second half, and it started well. Jahmyr Gibbs had a five-yard carry to start the quarter, and then he had this nice seven-yard carry.
The problem is you can see No. 88 Giovanni Ricci holding like crazy, and unfortunately, the officials saw it too. Now it’s second-and-15, and the right thing to do might have been to pass the ball and try to recover a big chunk of that yardage. Campbell instead doubles down on the run, and Gibbs gets six yards. Now it’s a third-and-9 and. . .
Clip 2: The Rams know exactly what the Lions want to do
It’s third-and-9. Everyone in the world knows what the move is here, right? It’s a pass. So the Rams bring pressure and force something out fast. You might want to mention the Lions having a mobile quarterback, but there’s no getting around this pressure. It happens pretty fast.
If Goff has a little more time, he could get the ball to Kalif Raymond for a first down. He didn’t, though.
Clip 3: The big what if
First off, holy hell, Goff takes a shot here. You almost have to wonder how roughing the passer wasn’t called. Second, he throws a perfect ball.
It was all going well, and Jameson Williams even caught it. Then the landing screwed it all up. Williams just couldn’t hold on. If he catches this, it’s a completely different ball game, and maybe we’re talking about a win today. But he didn’t. Then this happened.
Clip 4: The worst thing that could happen at that time
Trystan Colon gets beat like he stole something, and before you know it, Goff is on the ground. You missed big on first-and-10 and now a sack on second-and-10, and now it’s third-and-22. It’s over. This drive is dead. The Rams know you have to pass to get out of this, so they just cover everything downfield and give you a little something underneath that can’t really turn into anything.
So at the end of the day, the holding call, the Williams drop, and the sack are why the third quarter went so badly. That’s why the Lions couldn’t get anything going. On the flip side of that, the Rams had two touchdowns. It was the best quarter of the game for them. It can all happen that fast.
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