Detroit Lions film review: What went wrong on third and fourth down against the Eagles?
Allen Park — Third down has been a season-long concern for the Detroit Lions’ offense. Fourth down? Not so much.
Perpetually aggressive, the team ranked top five in the league coming into Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, converting better than 70% on the make-or-break plays.
By now, we all know how that success reversed course in the defeat.
After a promising showing against Washington in coach Dan Campbell’s first game as the offensive play-caller, Detroit sharply regressed on critical downs against the Eagles. Scoring just nine points in the primetime loss, the Lions converted only 3-of-13 on third down and got shut out on five fourth-down tries.
That was the story of the game and logically the focus of this week’s film review, as we break down each of those eighteen plays.
● First quarter, third-and-16 at Detroit's 15
After losing yardage on the drive’s first two snaps, including a sack on second down, Detroit was in a tough spot. However, they got a favorable look with Amon-Ra St. Brown covered man-to-man on a deep dig to the quarterback’s left.
St. Brown was isolated as the two middle-field defenders converged on Jameson Williams’ go route from the right slot.
Watching it live, I thought this misfire was related to Goff wearing a glove on his throwing hand. But in a sign of things to come, the timing between the duo was a tick off as the quarterback fired before St. Brown’s inside break, causing the pass to skip well short of its intended target.