Lions film breakdown: Why Detroit struggled in the red zone vs. Bucs

Breaking down the all-22 of the Lions’ struggles in the red zone during their Week 2 game against the Buccaneers.

If you have been watching football long enough, then you know just how fickle this game can be. Looking at the box score of the Detroit Lions’ Week 2 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers without knowing the actual outcome of the game, you’d might assume that the home team won by a few scores. Maybe more, depending on a few factors.

Unfortunately for the Lions and what was another raucous crowd inside of Ford Field, that wasn’t the case. Despite errors by both coaches and players alike, the Lions still had multiple chances to come out on top against Tampa Bay, before ultimately falling short, 20-16.

And if you are looking at one particular facet of the game where the Lions could have possibly reversed their Week 2 fortunes, look no further than the offense’s performance in the red zone—an uncharacteristic one-for-seven on the day.

The red zone is a point of emphasis for every football team in the history of time. Entire periods of practice are typically dedicated to working it, and for good reason. Space is limited, windows are tighter, and the need for near-flawless execution is turned up several notches.

In 2023, the Lions were one of the best red zone offenses in all of football, so while this two-game stretch where they have gone three-for-11 (27.3%) has not been fun to watch, I am a firm believer in things getting back on track.

Before we look ahead to the Lions Week 3 matchup with the Arizona Cardinals, let’s take a look at some of the factors that limited Detroit’s success in the red zone against the Buccaneers.

Third-and-goal on the Tampa Bay 3. 7:19 left in first quarter

To begin, one thing I did not like about how the Lions were operating in the red zone was their shotgun usage. Out of the 19 snaps taken for Detroit inside the Tampa Bay 20, 16 of them were with Lions’ quarterback Jared Goff in the gun. And while it is possible to have an effective running game out of shotgun, most running backs will tell you that it is still not their preference.

After a roughing the passer penalty on Tampa Bay, the Lions had a fresh set of downs at the Buccaneers’ 10-yard line. After a throwaway on first down, and a 7-yard rush by running back David Montgomery on second, the Lions were now facing a third-and-goal from the 3.

Initially, the Lions are in 11-personnel with Montgomery on Goff’s left and tight end Sam LaPorta split out wide to the right of receiver Jameson Williams. Pre-snap, Goff signals for LaPorta to motion towards the formation.

Now next to right tackle Penei Sewell, Buccaneers’ cornerback Zyon McCollum doesn’t travel with LaPorta—usually a decent indicator to Goff that Tampa Bay is going to be in some sort of zone coverage. Instead, McCollum ends up outside Williams towards the boundary, giving him outside leverage on Williams prior to the ball being snapped.

Williams runs what is essentially a speed out towards the boundary, and it appears as if Goff has predetermined where he wants to go with the football. With a defender now in trail and another over the top, this becomes a really difficult throw for any quarterback to make, and Goff ends up throwing it out of the reach of anyone.

Detroit would come away with three points of their own, making the score 6-3 in favor of Tampa Bay.

Third-and-10 on the Tampa Bay 18. 13:34 left in second quarter

Later in the game with the score still 6-3, the Lions once again found themselves in the red zone, and once again found themselves behind the sticks thanks to poor execution.

The first snap was a first-down handoff to running back Jahmyr Gibbs that resulted in a no gain thanks to a nice play from Bucs’ linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka. On second down, the timing was off between Goff and Williams, leaving the Lions with another third-and-long situation to work through.

Back in 11-personnel with Gibbs now split next to Goff in the shotgun, wide receiver Kalif Raymond goes in motion towards the bottom of your screen, leaving LaPorta alone to the top. The Buccaneers only rush four, while dropping seven into coverage. The Lions attempt to get Gibbs going on a quick-screen to the right, but Tampa Bay wasn’t fooled. They quickly rally to the football and get the elusive Gibbs onto the ground, forcing another Lions field goal from kicker Jake Bates.

The design of the screen isn’t bad, and neither is the execution on this particular play. But if the defense isn’t fooled by what you are throwing at them, especially on third-and-long situations, your offense is going to have some trouble.

Third-and-6 from the Tampa Bay 16. 12:40 left in third quarter

A 15-yard run by Jameson Williams put the Lions inside the Tampa Bay 20. Sidenote here to breakup the film study—more endarounds for Jameson Williams, please.

A short pass to Kalif Raymond netted the offense 1 yard, Montgomery up the middle got another three, and yet again, the offense is in need of a conversion on third down.

This time, newly-signed receiver Tim Patrick is in the ball game, alongside receivers St. Brown and Williams. Pre-snap, the Buccaneers are mugging up the line of scrimmage, making Goff think twice about where the potential pressure might be coming from.

Overall, the Lions’ offensive line did a good job of keeping their quarterback clean on this rep, despite the game being run by linebacker Yaya Diaby.

Goff hangs in the pocket, but nobody uncovers, and he is forced to check the ball down to Montgomery, well short of the first down marker. This is where it gets tough to pass the ball effectively inside the red zone. The Bucs only rushed four, leaving seven defenders to cover up green grass on the back end. Check out how things look once everyone drops into coverage. Not a lot of options for Goff to work with.

Second-and-16 at the Tampa Bay 28. 7:41 left in fourth quarter

A 24-yard scamper by Gibbs on third-and-4 moved the ball well into Tampa Bay territory. Down 20-16, the Lions were looking to put one into the endzone and hopefully find a way to hang on.

After a holding penalty called on All-Pro center Frank Ragnow put the Lions at second-and-16, the offense was again in dire need of a big play. And while it doesn’t happen often for this offensive line, this one was mostly on them.

To their credit, the Buccaneers executed a pretty sweet simulated pressure here—a staple in the Todd Bowles defense. A simulated pressure in simple terms is when a team blitzes a linebacker or defensive back, while simultaneously dropping a defensive linemen, usually an edge defender, into coverage. So essentially sending a non-traditional rusher after the quarterback, and dropping a traditional rusher into coverage.

In this instance, Tampa Bay drops Tryon-Shoyinka into zone coverage, and blitzes off-ball linebacker Lavonte David. Gibbs does a decent job of stepping up into the A-gap and slowing down David, but confusion between the line quickly sets in, causing defensive lineman C.J. Brewer to have a free shot at Goff as he lets go of the ball. Ragnow looks to his left to help Gibbs with David, right guard Kevin Zeitler turns right to chip the edge defender being blocked by Sewell, and that is what causes Brewer to be turned loose.

There also appears to be some confusion between Goff and Tim Patrick based on where Patrick ended up on his route, but that issue almost ends up being a non-factor with how much pressure Goff had right in his lap.

I am sure this will be a big teaching point for Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley this week. With an offensive line full of veterans, the communication has to be better.

Fourth-and-8 at the Tampa Bay 11. 1:01 left in fourth quarter

This is where some of offensive coordinator Ben Johnson’s calls began to get under my skin. At this point in the game, we have seen what Tampa Bay wants to do when they are backed up in their territory on defense. Rush four, and flood the back end with defenders who can cover space and make things difficult for Goff to take a shot in the endzone.

They started things off with a 4-yard loss on a pass to Gibbs out of the backfield. The second-year back never stood a chance, and as soon as he caught the ball, he had two defenders bearing down on him. On second down they would get 5 yards back thanks to a connection to Williams that got them out of bounds and stopped the clock.

What do the Bucs do on defense? You guessed it. Rush four, drop seven. And predictably, the Lions tried another(!) screen to Gibbs on third-and-9 that netted them one yard.

Fourth-and-8 and with the game on the line, and the results are more of the same—a catch behind the first-down marker and Tampa Bay’s defense rallying to the football.

Are most of these issues correctable? 100% yes. Am I overly concerned with what I have seen out of the offense through the first two weeks of the 2024 season? Not really.

In my opinion, they need to get back to what made them such a potent red zone offense in 2023. Get Goff under center, and run the ball behind the best offensive line in the game. Do that, and I believe everything else will take care of itself.