The Detroit Lions’ red zone issues could—and should—rebound this week against the Arizona Cardinals. Here’s why:
After a sloppy loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week, the Detroit Lions move on to the Arizona Cardinals in their first road test of the season. Surprisingly, the Lions offense has been a struggle for the team, as the defense has been holding opponents to 20 points per game so far, and special teams have done their job when asked. The offense’s biggest issue right now is how effective they are in the red zone. After having a few problems against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1, scoring on 50 percent of their red zone attempts, they struggled mightily against Tampa Bay, scoring on just one attempt out of the seven they had, a measly 14 percent.
The red zone issues were a focal point in the loss to the Bucs, and the team must work on it to improve overall and win games that they should win. If Detroit scored a touchdown on at least one of those six other attempts, the game could have turned into a Lions victory. Everything would be different if the Lions scored an extra touchdown, but you get my point. Leaving the red zone without anything, even a field goal, put the team in that position to walk away with just 16 points, with only one touchdown and three field goals.
If you couldn’t tell, this week’s x-factor for the Lions will be the red zone offense. Last week, I predicted the offensive line, and while they did have an impact, they weren’t the most significant difference maker in the loss. This week, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and coach Dan Campbell must correct the Lions’ red zone issues, or the Lions could get into trouble.
Last season, the Lions’ red zone offense was the second-best in the NFL, scoring touchdowns 66.6 percent of the time. It’s the complete opposite this year, with a 27.3 percent success rate. This is only after two games compared to 17, so the Lions will have plenty of time to clean things up, and I believe they will. It’s still early in the season, and Johnson and Campbell will have time to figure out a more effective way to finish drives in the end zone, rather than field goals or failing on fourth down conversions.
Against Tampa Bay, the Lions’ red zone trips were mainly barely inside, as the offense would collapse once they sniffed the red zone. Things could have ended differently if the Lions had moved further and started a red zone trip inside the 10-yard line. If the Lions stalled out starting at the 21, then the red zone issues wouldn’t be what we would be discussing, so the context does matter for it.
Not making excuses here, but providing what I think is important context.
Not every red zone trip is equal.
Here’s where Detroit took their first red zone snap in all 7 opportunities last week:
20 yard line
18 YL
20 YL
20 YL
18 YL
18 YL
13 YL— Jeremy Reisman (@DetroitOnLion) September 17, 2024
Good opponent to work on
One way to improve your team on a specific aspect is a little confidence, and the Lions might be able to get that going up against the Cardinals’ red zone defense. So far this season, the Cardinals’ red zone defense is at a 55.6 percent success rate, meaning it’s more likely that their opponent will score in the red zone than not. With this matchup, Detroit can redeem themselves against a team that has struggled with stopping teams when they get inside the 20-yard line. If the Lions can improve upon it, it can boost their confidence when playing against teams that do a better job at it.
The red zone offense can improve by including tight end Sam LaPorta. LaPorta has had a quiet start to the season, with just six catches for 58 yards. The Cardinals are a tough matchup for him, as they have held tight ends to 46 yards and three catches this season. With the team’s red zone struggles against Tampa Bay, the Lions will work hard to correct those mistakes and make the most of their chances when in the red zone, and part of that is getting LaPorta involved.
If the red zone defense for Arizona were better, I don’t think LaPorta could be a good weapon for this, but with the Cardinals having issues in stopping teams from scoring, LaPorta could be a top option to use in this case. Another thing the team could do more of is run the ball in the short field. In the 21 plays the team had inside the red zone last week, the Lions passed the ball 15 times and only ran it six.
When you have the best offensive line in the NFL, you need to use that to your advantage more and run the ball. We saw the Lions do it against the Rams in overtime, and for them to abandon it when they were that close to scoring is odd. The Cardinals’ rush defense averages 3.4 yards per carry but they have already allowed three rushing touchdowns this season and were among the worst statistical run defenses last year.
Overall, the Lions have plenty of ways to correct their red zone issues, and if they can fix those mistakes, this team can win this game, possibly with ease.
