Ever since Golden Tate joined the Detroit Lions in 2014, the team has been missing something big.
As we know, the passing game has been solid for some time now and since Tate came along, the Lions have ranked 12th in the league or higher in each of those seasons. That’s not too bad considering the Lions rushing attack has ranked no higher than 28th during that time.
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Near the end of the 2017 season, a season in which the Lions went 9-7 and missed the playoffs, Tate made a statement that caught everyone’s attention. He claimed the Lions were just one piece away from contending for championships, but he was not willing to give away his secret.
From 97.1 The Ticket:
“I have it in my head,” said Tate, “but I don’t want to throw anyone under the bus, so I’ll just keep it to myself.”
On Friday, Tate was asked if a rushing attack was the missing piece to the puzzle and he spilled the beans.
From 97.1 The Ticket:
“Yeah,” he said matter-of-factly.
“We love seeing it, it’s something we’ve been wanting for a long time now,” he said. “But we have to come back and do it consistently. It doesn’t matter what we did last week if we don’t come back and run the ball efficiently this week. That’s what we want to do, and that’s a collective effort from head to toe. I believe if we run the ball well it’s going to open it up for us.”
It had been 70 games since the Lions had a running back reach the 100-yard mark. That is until last Sunday when rookie Kerryon Johnson ran or 101 yards on just 16 carries in a 26-10 win over the New England Patriots.
Tate is 100% right. Unless the Lions offense is able to generate a legit rushing attack on a regular basis, the team will not be able to get to where they want to go. But if they can make that happen, look out NFL.
