Golden Tate, Denver's David Bruton: Teams Know What's Coming From Lions Offense
File this in the "things the Lions haven't been good at this year" category: Their offense is so predictable that other teams know what's coming.
According to Mile High Sports, Broncos safety David Bruton Jr had learned Detroit's tendencies from film, and could tell what was going to happen right before he intercepted Matthew Stafford on Sunday. Bruton's pick was Stafford's second interception of the game.
"It was just a formation where we knew what was coming," Bruton said, according to the article. "They've had a high tendency to show a particular play, especially a wrap-six, so usually the No. 2 receiver sits down about five or six yards with a guy running a dig route right behind it. We were just alert and once I saw a running back chip before his release, I knew what was coming, so I just read Stafford's eyes, broke on the ball and was able to make a play."
Football isn't rocket science. But teams can at least make it more difficult for opponents to figure out their tendencies, and the Lions clearly aren't doing so. Golden Tate said the Broncos aren't the first team that has figured the Lions out.
"All three weeks, a player's come up to me and said, 'We knew (what) you were going to do,'" Tate said in a radio interview. "That's bad."
In what might be the understatement of this young season, it is quite bad.
Head coach Jim Caldwell said after Sunday's loss to Denver that he didn't think the Lions' offense had grown stale or unpredictable. He also said on Monday he had not thought about taking over play-calling duties from offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi.
At least partially thanks to a lackluster offense, the Lions have started the season 0-3, and will travel to Seattle on Monday to take on last year's Super Bowl runner-up.