It got tossed asunder the Lions’ wretched run defense, but the Detroit run offense also had a bad day on Saturday in Carolina. The Lions had their worst ground attack of the season, gaining just 45 rushing yards versus the Panthers.
Detroit’s leading rusher in Week 16 was quarterback Jared Goff. Running backs Jamaal Williams, D’Andre Swift and Justin Jackson all had rough outings. It wasn’t all on the backs, either; Williams gained 11 yards on seven carries but did so by gaining 14 yards after contact. He was hit behind the line of scrimmage on five of his seven runs.
The Lions entered Week 16 having rushed for at least 82 yards in every game, and had topped 100 rushing yards in 11 of their first 14 games. Their average yards per carry of 4.6 entering the Panthers game ranked in the league’s upper half. It dropped to just over 4.4 yards per carry in that one rough outing.
Head coach Dan Campbell was asked about the epic failure of the team’s run game.
“Yeah, look, it goes back to fundamentals, but I would say even finish,” Campbell said on Monday. “We’ve got to finish better across the board. We’ve just got to finish. That’s just one of those things that – us as coaches, we have to put an emphasis on it, more of an emphasis that we have, and we’ve really got to hone in on it.
Campbell continued, spreading the responsibility around the entire offense.
“There again, the run game, the first thing everybody looks at is the O-line because they have – there’s five of them, and they’re always going to have a big hand in it, but it’s also your tight ends, it’s your receivers, and it’s the way your backs run. So, everybody’s got a hand in this run game.”
Detroit catches an opportunity to get the run game back on track to finish the season. This week’s opponent, the Chicago Bears, ranks 27th in yards per carry allowed at a gaudy 4.9. The Week 18 opponent, the Green Bay Packers, is 30th at 5.0 YPC allowed.
