On Sunday afternoon, the Detroit Lions squeaked out a win over the lowly New York Giants in what was about as uninspiring of a victory as you can have in the NFL. While Detroit will gladly take the victory, they also know they have a lot of work to do if they want to even make the playoffs, let alone do something when they get there.
A lot of the attention of late has focused on head coach Dan Campbell, who recently took over the offensive playcalling duties, and recently, Campbell spoke on how Detroit can try to kickstart its once-lethal deep passing attack.
“You're always playing that balance. If you don't take shots, then they just sit on you and they can make it difficult. But also, sometimes to take those deep shots, you've got to hold the ball for a while depending on what you want to do. So, there is a risk reward…” said Campbell, per Colton Pouncy of The Athletic on X, formerly Twitter.
Indeed, the Lions have struggled to produce some of the lethal downfield passing plays, particularly to Jameson Williams, over the last several weeks. In a recent road loss against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Lions' passing attack was almost completely shut down by the Philadelphia defense. Thankfully, Jahmyr Gibbs has made some explosive plays in the running game, including a long dash on the first play of overtime last week to help Detroit seal the win over the Giants.
Still, if this Lions team is going to reach its ceiling, they'll have to find ways to move the ball downfield in chunks consistently through the air.
In any case, the Lions will next take the field on Thanksgiving for a big home showdown against the Green Bay Packers that could play a huge role in the NFC North race further down the line.
