John Morton Raises Fear Lions' Offense Too Overwhelming to Operate

The Detroit Lions’ offense, once one of the NFL’s most explosive units, has lost its spark, and offensive coordinator John Morton’s fingerprints are all over the problem. 

Sunday’s listless performance against the Minnesota Vikings was just the latest sign that this offense has become stagnant under Morton’s direction.

Detroit surrendered five sacks, logged 10 negative-yard plays and struggled to find rhythm and sustain drives for the third straight week. 

The Lions scored on their opening drive, but failed to capitalize on that early momentum, spending the rest of the afternoon searching for answers that never came.

For a team that prides itself on physicality and balance, the offense looked rather predictable and one dimensional. 

Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores repeatedly exposed Detroit’s offensive line, dialing up A-gap blitzes that wreaked havoc against Jared Goff and consistently disrupted his timing. 

Once the pressure mounted, Morton had no answers, either – no quick-hitting adjustments, no misdirection to slow the rush and no semblance of creativity to keep the Vikings at bay. For all intents and purposes, he failed his starting quarterback. 

Overall, Morton was much more reactive than proactive in his play-calling. 

The result: Detroit came away empty-handed on seven of its 11 possessions, five of which resulted in punts. 

Furthermore, the team's third-down woes continued. With lackluster blocking from the offensive line and little semblance of a run game, the Lions converted a measly five of their 17 chances on third down. It amounted to a worse success rate on third down than the one recorded by Goff & Co. through the season's first eight weeks (37.65 percent). 

“The fact that we had 17 third downs, that’s crazy,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said in the postgame. “I mean, that’s a high, high amount of third down. Our first-and second-down efficiency’s got to be better. I’d start there. And then, yes, the third down is still an issue. But, we didn’t run the ball well – 3.3 average – that ain’t good enough.

“If you can’t run it, it’s hard to be an explosive offense cause now you’re a sitting duck. You’ll sit back there in the gun and everybody knows you’re passing and they just pin their ears back and they go after you and run all the games and get up there in mugs (lined up over center) and all that good stuff.”

As Campbell said, Detroit had trouble running the football against Minnesota. Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery never got into a groove, and combined for just 65 yards on 20 carries (3.3 yards per carry). And for the season, the Lions are averaging 4.4 yards per carry, their fewest since the beginning of the Campbell-Brad Holmes era in January of 2021. 

When an offense lacks rhythm, the coordinator’s job is to find a spark, and Morton hasn’t done that nearly often enough. 

The Lions’ once-lethal play-action attack has dissipated without a reliable ground game. And the vertical passing game has nearly disappeared. In fact, against Minnesota, Goff completed just one pass that traveled north of 20 yards.

Even Detroit’s best deep threat, Jameson Williams, has been an afterthought for most of the season. 

Although the fourth-year receiver finished with four catches for 66 yards and a touchdown, most of that production came in garbage time, including a 37-yard score with under two minutes to play. Outside of that, Morton again struggled to scheme Williams open or utilize his speed to stretch defenses vertically – a recurring issue this season for Morton.

The timing of such offensive ineptitude is especially troubling. 

Detroit had nearly two weeks to gameplan for Minnesota, coming off a bye following its Monday night win over Tampa Bay. Yet, the offense looked uninspired, the very opposite of what you’d expect from a rested, well-coached team.

Morton, to this point, hasn’t displayed the adaptability or innovativeness that defined his predecessor, Ben Johnson. 

With Johnson calling the plays, the Lions built one of the league’s most efficient attacks, and it was masterfully tailored to Goff’s strengths. 

Morton, by contrast, appears to be overcomplicating simple concepts while failing to recognize his personnel’s strengths. 

And the numbers tell the story. In each of the team's last three games, the offense has failed to produce more than 24 points. The unit has been far from a well-oiled machine, and has undoubtedly regressed from its performance in Weeks 2-5 (40.25 points/game).

Despite the offense’s inefficient play of late, Goff isn’t pushing the panic button.

“No concern, no,” the veteran signal-caller told reporters after the game. “There’s certainly an urgency of fixing things. And we did fix things, I think, from two weeks ago. But there’s more to fix, obviously. There’s a ton to fix, and a ton of things to get better at, and it’s a long season and we got to get to it and fix these things.”

Yet, the longer the Lions wait to address their offensive slide, the more costly Morton’s play-calling could become. 

Detroit’s defense, for the most part, has played well enough to keep them in games. However, without a balanced offensive attack, the margin for error drastically shrinks, especially as divisional play heats up.

Morton may yet find his footing, but the evidence through nine weeks is concerning. 

His gameplans lack creativity, his in-game adjustments are slow and his play-calling rarely elevates the talent around him. 

The Lions’ offense doesn’t just currently look out of sync; it looks lost.

For a team with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations, that’s a problem that cannot continue to linger.

If the offense continues to sputter, Campbell may have to seriously consider whether the first-year Lions coordinator is capable of righting the ship. 

Sad but true, Morton might just be in over his head as Lions OC.