Bish & Brown: Time For Detroit Lions To Punch Back

Minnesota loss exposes offensive slide

The Detroit Lions walked into Minnesota and left with a gut punch. A divisional loss. A game that slipped because the offense never found its level. The Detroit Lions Podcast broke down why. Detroit punted five times, turned it over once, and handed back a takeaway after Terrion Arnold’s first career interception. Amon-Ra St. Brown said the room has moved on. It still stings. The Vikings scored 27, but the focus stayed on Detroit’s offense. Outside of the Kansas City game, the defense has mostly held up its end. This was about execution, rhythm, and answers that never came.

Protection math and third down failure

Minnesota dictated terms. Blitzes. Stunts. Pressure from depth and width. Detroit’s protection rules could not keep up, and the Vikings kept forcing Jameer Gibbs into pass protection. He lost too often. He could not anchor against those looks, and the Lions repeated the exposure. On film, the structure often broke the same way. Left tackle Taylor Decker and left guard Christian Mahogany passing off to one defender. Right tackle Penei Sewell and right guard Tate Ratledge fanning wide. The edge looks widened. The interior squeeze vanished. The free rusher met Gibbs. Jared Goff saw bodies in his lap.

That distortion bled into third down. Detroit is converting about 37 percent, 37 of 102, tied with Tampa Bay. Last season, the Lions lived near 47 percent. Ben Johnson is gone. John Morton is calling it now. The sequencing and solutions are not landing on money downs. Play calls asked backs to protect instead of punish. Hot answers were late. The pocket location felt static. That is how an NFL offense with St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs, and David Montgomery punts five times in a winnable game.

Defense held up; special teams did not

The defense was not perfect. The Vikings ran the ball with success, and JJ McCarthy’s touchdown to Justin Jefferson was a perfect throw and a better catch. Yet individual efforts flashed. Jack Campbell played fast and urgent. Derek Barnes filled downhill. Arnold competed well. Amik held Jefferson under 50 yards despite the score. The bigger leak came on special teams. Kick returns flipped field position. Punt returns stung. A missed kick and coverage busts stacked stress on a struggling offense. That is a tough parlay to overcome on the road.

Week 10 vs. Commanders: fixes on deck

Washington is next in Week 10. The mandate is clear. Protect Goff with different answers. Keep Gibbs out of solo pass pro against overloads. Use chips and condensed splits to alter edges. Build more quick game on early downs to avoid third-and-long. Lean on tempo to blunt pressure tells. Let Montgomery set tone without the ball on the ground after his fumble. If the Detroit Lions clean the protection math and regain third down timing, the offense will look like itself again. If not, the same issues will follow them into another Sunday.

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