Lions: Did They Really Improve Offensively?
By Joe Chapp
The Detroit Lions have made some moves with their offensive roster this offseason, but how much have they really improved?
Jan 4, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate (15) celebrates his touchdown pass with Matthew Stafford (9), Cornelius Lucas (77) and Brandon Pettigrew (87) against the Dallas Cowboys during the first quarter in the NFC Wild Card Playoff Game at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Last year around this time we wondered what the Detroit Lions offense would look like. A lot of people, including myself, thought it’d be a lot better than what happened in 2014. Sure, the first year in a new system, it takes time to get it right. Well, Detroit never got it right, and when Detroit started to get in a groove they lost key players due to injury.
Some will openly blame Matthew Stafford for the Lions struggles, but let’s be honest with that line I don’t know many quarterbacks who could do as well as Stafford did, except for maybe Aaron Rodgers.
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The Lions lacked in key areas, depth being the main one, and it showed when the injuries started to mount, especially on the offensive line. LaAdrian Waddle, Larry Warford and Riley Reiff all missed time due to injuries. As good as Cornelius Lucas could be, he was an undrafted rookie and it didn’t bode well for the Lions.
On top of the Lions injuries on the offensive line came the regression of Rob Sims and Dominic Raiola. That might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for the Lions offense. You expect some injuries during the course of a season, but then tacking on the bad play of Raiola and Sims the Lions chances diminished.
So now we look forward to 2015. The Lions have made significant changes to the offensive line and the offense as a whole. Let’s examine the Lions offense position-by-position; did it get better, worse or stay the same?
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