Detroit’s offense is visibly more driven by their passing game, having 101 passes for 1,245 yards and 11 touchdowns, but the ground game has been a part of that.
And they’ve proven that there doesn’t necessarily have to be an even balance between the two to be productive.
“We’re built to throw the ball,” said Offensive Coordinator Scott Linehan. “With the players that we have in our offense, we’re really heavy-laden with receiving ability and we have a quarterback who can throw.
“People always want to look at balance, but the way that we throw the football, we’re not looking for a 30-, 40-yard gain every time we call a pass play. More often, we’re looking for efficient plays and we utilize that as you would if you were calling the game to run.”
When it comes to evaluating the offense as a whole, Linehan has no concern about the development of the run game.
“Honestly, I don’t even think about the run game," he said. "That might be a perception, but the reality is that it’s not even something we’re concerned about.
"We’re very comfortable calling the running the game the way we do it. We don’t go, ‘Oh, what was our run-pass percentage?’ We don’t even look at that. We look to see how efficient we were in all areas."
Part of the Lions effeciency in the running game comes from the work of their versatile tight end group which includes
Each week they're expected to not only be a part of the receiving game and pass protection, but also to do their part in run blocking when the game plan calls for it.
“We always plan on helping out Jeff and (Gosder) as much as we can from the backfield,” said Heller. “When we’ve needed the run, we’ve gone to it, but when you have weapons like we do in the passing game, it’s hard not to utilize them.
“Sometimes your total yardage might not be the highest, but when we've needed it, and when we've gone to it, it has been effective. The bottom line is putting points on the scoreboard, however you have to do it.”
Running back
If he's able to get a 4-yard run that sets up a 20-yard passing score, that's effective.
“We don’t want any negative plays, we don’t want any turnovers or anything like that,” said Best. “We just want to get positive yards every time we get the ball.”
There are obviously still elements of the run game that need to be improved on, but it's something that will come along and part of that will be determined by coming out in games faster and being able to score sooner.
"We haven’t not tried to run," said Linehan. "When we’re down by two or three (scores), we’re not going to run the ball as much there, but we’re also not going to abandon it.
"You’re not going to win or lose a game by not running the ball. I think that it all balances out as we go. Our goal is to be efficient on offense and to be explosive on offense - run or pass.”
