Each week, I dive into the film of the Eagles’ upcoming opponent to get a feel for who they really are. Think of it less as a stats preview and more as an overview of what shows up repeatedly on film, and what the Eagles will be facing.
Pass Game
When the Lions are in rhythm, their passing game can look like one of the most polished and efficient units in football. This is a very talented offense. Everything they do hinges on timing, anticipation, and spacing. The offense is all built around Jared Goff as a pure structure-and-rhythm quarterback. They have some outstanding receiving talent, too, which obviously helps!
This season, Goff has been devastating in the intermediate area of the field. Detroit repeatedly leans on crossers, intermediate in-breakers, and backside dig routes, especially off play-action, where Goff is outstanding. They will test the Eagles’ secondary with lots of hi-lo concepts.
Amon-Ra St. Brown is the engine of this part of the offense, operating with elite feel against both man and zone. He’s one of the best receivers in the league. He plays both outside and inside, but does his best work in the slot. The Eagles will probably ask Quinyon Mitchell to travel with him outside, and leave Cooper DeJean on him in the slot. It will be one of DeJean’s biggest tests.
These tight window throws are incredibly hard to stop. The windows that Goff throws into are tiny, but he trusts his eyes and is willing to make these impressive, tight window throws.
At the same time, Sam LaPorta gives Goff an athletic mismatch inside, and Jameson Williams forces safeties to hold depth with his speed. LaPorta is outstanding after the catch, and the Lions run a lot of RPOs where they get players like LaPorta in the flat. The offense does a great job stretching you horizontally and vertically, and the RPOs help because the running game is excellent.
The weapons they have complement each other, and the way the offense has been built suits Goff’s skill set perfectly. Although Ben Johnson isn’t there anymore, they use a lot of clever shifts and motions to help receivers get open by creating better leverage for them to win, such as this example below!
When the offensive line keeps Goff clean, the Lions can tear through defenses with ease. That’s why they average 31.4 points per game and 6.1 yards per play! The offensive line is excellent, especially at the two tackle positions, and Goff gets the ball out so quickly that it feels hard to disrupt the passing game. The ceiling is extremely high. We haven’t even mentioned the impact of Jahmyr Gibbs yet, who is an absolute nightmare to cover in the flats and on screen passes, as he is electric after the catch. They just have a lot of good players on offense.
However, there is good news! I watched the Vikings and Bucs games and was impressed by how both defenses attacked the Lions. This is one of the league’s more fragile passing attacks when the interior pocket breaks down. Goff is a statue in the pocket and can’t create outside of structure. If you can disrupt the timing and win inside, this offense will struggle.
Minnesota laid out a pretty clear blueprint to beat them. They forced Detroit into third-and-long and tested their interior communication. The Vikings held the Lions to 5-for-17 on third down, with only four first downs on Goff’s 14 dropbacks in those situations, and sacked him five times.
Flores hammered both A-gaps with cross-dog pressure patterns and repeatedly forced Jahmyr Gibbs into protection. Gibbs struggled, and once the interior of the pocket dissolved, the entire intermediate passing structure vanished. Goff is excellent when he can stand, hitch, and throw, but far less comfortable when he must move off his spot or improvise.
Detroit’s passing game thrives on rhythm, but can be knocked out of rhythm quickly by interior pressure, disguised coverage rotations, or early negative plays that force predictable down-and-distance situations. My only worry is that the Eagles’ cornerbacks (mainly Adoree Jackson) can be passive at the LOS. I think you need to disrupt the timing early.
Run Game
The Lions remain a run-first offense at heart, even if their passing game gets more attention. Their run game is diverse, physical, and central to everything they build on early downs. Detroit leans on a mix of duo, mid-zone, power, and pin-pull, using Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery as one of the league’s most complementary backfield pairings. It’s a very creative run game. Gibbs gives them explosive movement and perimeter speed, while Montgomery provides the tough yards and the reliability to grind through contact and keep them ahead of schedule. They are a top duo.
At their best, the offensive line can overwhelm teams. Their performance against Washington was essentially perfect. That’s the high-end version of Detroit. As I mentioned earlier, I think Jahmyr Gibbs may be the most explosive back in the league. They will test the Eagles out with perimeter runs.
Against Minnesota, the Lions repeatedly struggled to handle interior defenders, which led to many 2nd-and-long situations early. Detroit struggles in 3rd-and-long situations, which reflects how dependent they are on staying ahead of the sticks. When the run game is inefficient or negative runs pile up, the offense just isn’t particularly good. I hope the Eagles play some 5-man fronts and get aggressive with stopping the run on 1st down.
Despite those issues, Detroit still ranks as one of the league’s more consistently productive run games. They are clearly at their best when they can run downhill, physically, and in rhythm with their passing game.
Final thoughts
Detroit’s offense has a top-tier ceiling, but they have had its struggles of late. When the passing game is built on a successful run game and Goff operates with clean interior pockets, the Lions’ intermediate route package is one of the most difficult in the league to defend. But this unit does not handle chaos well. Interior pressure, early-down losses, and predictable third-and-long situations can expose the limitations of their quarterback. The Lions can be one of the most explosive and efficient offenses in the NFL, but they haven’t been fantastic against the elite defenses this year.
Thank you for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to comment below and ask any questions. If you enjoyed this piece, you can find more of my work and podcast here. If you would like to support me further, please check out my Patreon here!
