Lions Film Study: Buffalo found the matchup it wanted against the Lions and kept going back to it until Detroit broke; how to fix it
Buffalo targeted Rock Ya-Sin and Detroit’s safeties 13 times Thursday night, and the film shows a defense repeatedly dealing with blown assignments, poor positioning and communication problems.
The Detroit Lions’ defense got beat up good and proper by the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football. Josh Allen put up 248 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Now the fun part is trying to go back and figure out what happened.
In watching the film, it seems incredibly deliberate now. The Bills had a plan to attack Rock Ya-Sin and the safeties, and they never seemed to deviate from that plan. 14 targets their way, with 11 receptions, 138 yards, and two touchdowns being the result. Let’s take a look at some of the film to see what happened.
Clip 1: Jack, what are you waiting for? Avonte, where are you going?
I’ve watched this play like 20 times, and I can’t figure out what Campbell thinks is going to unfold here. He just lets Khalil Shakir run right past him, and he stays looking at Allen like he’s going to do something else, but it’s clearly not a run or anything. Maybe he’s thinking he has safety help from Avonte Maddox, but Maddox clearly thinks Shakir is going deep. Which he does on the very next play. But Campbell is just not in a good spot here, and by the time he realizes it, it’s too late.
Clip 2: The very next play, Rock gets beat
Here’s where Shakir does go deep, and he beats Ya-Sin down the field and then shakes him on a second move and is wide open for what would have been a huge gain if the Lions don’t collapse the pocket and force Allen to make an off-kilter throw that’s just a little out of reach for Shakir.
Clip 3: Harper really wanted to help the other two guys cover one guy here
I don’t know why Harper let Kincaid just go right by him here, and then he kind of just settles in to help with Shakir when both Wonnum and Ya-Sin are right there. Kincaid just runs free into the middle of the field for a 25-yard gain. It gets worse for Harper from here.
Clip 4: Out of place
Harper is just out of place and attacks at a bad angle here. If he’s at a better angle, then maybe he gets a PBU here instead of a 16-yard touchdown. It’s not the worst thing you’ve ever seen, but you do hope to see better right?
Clip 5: The worst thing you’ve ever seen
This is pretty bad. Roger McCreary lets Palmer go past him, but it’s probably because he thinks Avonte Maddox is behind him and he can take him. But Maddox is going over to help Ya-Sin, who doesn’t really need the help here, and Palmer is just in the backfield wondering why nobody cares about him, and he scores a 43-yard touchdown. The easiest touchdown he’ll ever have.
Conclusion
If I’m the Lions, I’m calling the Steelers on Friday about Joey Porter Jr., and I’m getting both Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph back to practice on Wednesday with the hope of either getting both back against the Cardinals or against the Packers after the bye. Detroit won’t make it all season like this. They need their guys back, and they need some help that isn’t on the roster.
