The Detroit Lions are gravitating towards the norm. After a hot start to the season it seemed that they had covered their weaknesses enough to compete at a high level. The past few performances have shown that these weaknesses were just being covered up. An injured Matthew Stafford has shown that the offensive line is still terrible and the defensive line can’t generate any pressure, which only figures to get worse with the loss of Haloti Ngata. With Aaron Rodgers injured the door has opened for the Lions to win the division but in order to do so these three players must step up.
Eric Ebron
If this weren’t obvious already, Eric Ebron is playing terribly. He continues to drop important passes and provides little to nothing in the form of blocking. Darren Fells, meanwhile, was not brought in to be the starter but is the better tight end at this point. With Golden Tate banged up Ebron will once again be given an opportunity and for this offense to be effective he must start catching balls. We have seen his ability and he can dominate against smaller defenders with his size and speed combination. That is why the Lions drafted him. If he can’t learn to catch the ball with his hands the Lions will struggle. Ameer Abdullah, Marvin Jones, Kenny Golladay and Darren Fells just aren’t good enough to make this offense effective all on their own.
Ezekiel Ansah
The Lions pass rush of the first four games is long gone. In consecutive weeks, Cam Newton and Drew Brees were able to sit back in the pocket and wait for receivers to create separation. Even with an improved secondary, the Lions will not be able to stop any passing attack without a pass rush. With A’Shawn Robinson playing at a high-level Ezekiel Ansah should start getting better opportunities to get to the quarterback, if he does not take advantage the Lions will be in big trouble.
Jim Bob Cooter
Jim Bob Cooter is calling plays that would work on a talented offense with a talented offensive line. The Lions don’t have that right now and the offense isn’t working which means Cooter needs to get creative. Both Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick disappear for long stretches in games. With Golden Tate out, those two must get more opportunities. Not many players on the Lions can make defenders miss in open field, Riddick and Abdullah can.
Cooter also must use his players for what they are good at. Sending Ebron down the middle in the red zone is a bad decision, he just hasn’t shown that he can catch those passes. If he wants to have a tight end down the middle, put in Darren Fells. NFL football is about using your strengths in the right way. Ebron is fast, give him routes on the outside and let Fells handle contested balls down the middle. In order for the Lions offense to click, Cooter will need to start calling better games.
