The Lions coaching staff now has influence from three of the greatest offensive minds of all time
Sean Payton, Andy Reid, and Norv Turner all have their fingerprints on the Lions offense now
The Detroit Lions are taking their offense very seriously. They learned this year that maybe some of the stuff they were doing had become predictable, and defense began to pick up on it. So it’s time to make some major changes. The best way to do that isto hire guys from outside of the building. The Lions did just that by hiring both Drew Petzing and Mike Kafka. With these additions, the Lions now have influence from three of the greatest offensive minds in NFL history.
Dan Campbell, Sean Payton
We’ll start with the Sean Payton side of things. As we know, Payton won a Super Bowl with the Saints, but before that he was a big part of the Dallas Cowboys offense in the arly 200’s. An offense that Campbell was on as a tight end. With New Orleans, the Saints regularly finished near the top of the league in yards and points, and the aggressive playcalling he had there transferred over to Campbell. Payton is still having a lot of success. Even without Drew Brees.
Drew Petzing, Norv Turner
Petzing spent his first few years in the NFL with Turner and Kevin Stefanski on the Browns and Vikings staffs. Turner is the guy who helped build the careers of Troy Aikman, Cam Newton, and Phillip Rivers. Remember when LaDainian Tomlinson set the NFL record for most touchdowns in a season? It was Turner calling the plays for that. The Chargers were consistently among the top offenses in the league with Turner at the helm. Unfortunately, that did not work in the playoffs.
Mike Kafka, Andy Reid
Look how good the Chiefs’ offense has been since Reid took the head coach job over there. It’s not just a Patrick Mahomes thing; Alex Smith had a full-on career resurgence under Reid. Before Kansas City, Reid took the Eagles to the Super Bowl, and before that, he was helping Brett Favre and the Packers win a Super Bowl in Green Bay.
It’s important to note that just because you have these influences, that doesn’t mean it 100% is going to be perfect. The Lions still need to put in the work and make it happen. But it is proof that while the Lions plan to keep their offensive identity the same in terms of being a run-first team, they plan to inject a lot of new ideas into the fold to help evolve this thing.
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