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Exploring how and why the Detroit Lions used their personnel in Week 16 vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Detroit Lions (8-7) dropped another game to an opponent they were expected to handle at home, losing 29-24 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 16. With their playoff hopes on the line, the Lions were unable to perform at the level of a playoff team, made several self-inflicted errors, and moved away from many of the core concepts that have made them a successful team over the past three seasons.

Let’s take a look at how the Lions adjusted to all the moving parts on their roster by exploring how they utilized their personnel against the Steelers.

Quarterbacks:

Jared Goff: 74 snaps (100%)
Kyle Allen: 0 (0%)

With the Lions’ rushing attack ineffective, Goff was asked to throw the ball a whopping 54 times in this game—a dozen more times than in any other game this season. While Goff nearly willed the Lions to an improbable comeback, he saw the offense commit three penalties in the final five plays, taking two touchdowns off the board, including the eventual game-ender.

Running backs:

Jahmyr Gibbs: 64 (86%)
David Montgomery: 13 (18%)
Sione Vaki: 0 (0%) — 18 special teams snaps (64%)
Jacob Saylors: 0 (0%) — 18 (64%)

For all intents and purposes, the Lions abandoned the run in the second quarter of this game, only rushing the ball one time in the second half—a Gibbs attempt that resulted in a loss of three yards. That disproportional distribution of passing vs. rushing attempts directly led to the most lopsided split of carries amongst the running backs this season.

Wide receivers:

Amon-Ra St. Brown: 72 (97%)
Jameson Williams: 70 (95%)
Isaac TeSlaa: 41 (55%)
Kalif Raymond: 19 (26%) — 3 (11%)
Tom Kennedy: 1 (1%) — 6 (21%)
Dominic Lovett: Inactive

With the running game abandoned, the Lions leaned on their wide receivers to produce. While neither of their two big-name receivers produced more than 70 yards (and neither scored), TeSlaa and Raymond each caught four passes (for 52 and 62 receiving yards, respectively) and a touchdown.

The play-calling didn’t do much to aid this group, as the offense was constantly fighting against the Steelers’ zone coverage instead of running routes to manipulate it.

Tight ends:

Shane Zylstra: 49 (66%) — 13 (46%)
Anthony Firkser: 26 (35%) — 9 (32%)
Giovanni Ricci: 14 (19%) — 10 (36%)

For a team that abandoned the run in the second quarter and heavily leaned on their passing attack, there was significantly more tight end usage than expected. Despite being a clear weakness on the roster right now, the Lions continue to utilize three tight ends instead of giving more opportunities to more talented skill players.

Offensive line:

Penei Sewell: 74 (100%) — 4 (14%)
Tate Ratledge: 74 (100%) — 4 (14%)
Taylor Decker: 74 (100%)
Kingsley Eguakun: 71 (96%)
Christian Mahogany: 70 (95%) — 4 (14%)
Miles Frazier: 4 (5%) — 4 (14%)
Michael Niese: 3 (4%) — 4 (14%)
Dan Skipper: 1 (1%) — 4 (14%)
Graham Glasgow: Inactive (injury)
Trystan Colon: Inactive (injury)
Kayode Awosika: Inactive

Mahogany was activated from injured reserve and returned to his starting left guard role, while Kingsley Eguakun got the start at center, marking yet another offensive line combination for the Lions this season. Both struggled a bit in their opportunities, but that’s not overly surprising as the young players continue to gain experience.

Speaking of young players, rookie Frazier saw four snaps at left guard in the second quarter, three coming in a series that went three-and-out, while also taking the field on a kneel-down to end the half. Niese saw his three snaps in the third quarter (the only offensive snaps in that quarter), a series that ended with a safety.

Skipper only saw one snap as a sixth offensive lineman, a likely result of the Lions moving away from the run. Still, after finding success in the run game with Jumbo personnel, its usage has dramatically declined over the past two weeks—both losses.

Defensive end:

Aidan Hutchinson: 61 (82%)
Marcus Davenport: 40 (54%) — 6 (21%)
Al-Quadin Muhammad: 30 (41%)
Tyrus Wheat: 11 (15%) — 18 (64%)
Tyler Lacy: Inactive

For the second week in a row, Hutchinson has seen his reps scaled back, and his overall production has followed. Yes, Hutchinson recorded the Lions’ only two sacks on the day, but he only managed one additional pressure on 37 other opportunities.

Davenport failed to record a pressure in this game, and he has just two total pressures over the past four games since returning from injury. It’s becoming increasingly frustrating seeing him outsnap Muhammad, who registered a team-leading five pressures against the Steelers, and has produced 14 pressures and three sacks over the past three weeks.

Defensive tackle:

Alim McNeill: 56 (76%) — 6 (21%)
DJ Reader: 39 (53%)
Roy Lopez: 34 (46%) — 6 (21%)
Tyleik Williams: 23 (31%)
Mekhi Wingo: Inactive

Over the past month, the Lions have deployed their defensive tackle in a more traditional manner. While that game plan carried over into this game, we once again saw several three-defensive-tackle sets (with McNeill at the 4i) in an effort to stop the Steelers’ successful rushing attack.

Linebacker:

Jack Campbell: 74 (100%) — 6 (21%)
Alex Anzalone: 72 (97%)
Derrick Barnes: 51 (69%) — 9 (32%)
Trevor Nowaske: 4 (5%) — 24 (86%)
Malcolm Rodriguez: 3 (4%) — 24 (86%)
Grant Stuard: 0 (0%) — 24 (86%)

Campbell continues to be a bright spot for the Lions’ defense, contributing both in the run and pass defense. The rest of the group—which is typically a strength of the defense—struggled in this game, often finding themselves in difficult spots or out of position. With the secondary hemorrhaging holes in run defense, the linebackers looked like they were overcompensating for the secondary, expanding their assignments, and in turn, were leaving open gaps in their run defense.

Cornerback:

Rock Ya-Sin: 72 (97%) — 6 (21%)
D.J. Reed: 67 (91%)
Amik Robertson: 27 (36%)
Nick Whiteside: 6 (8%) — 4 (14%)
Khalil Dorsey: 0 (0%) — 18 (64%)
Arthur Maulet: 0 (0%) — 3 (11%)

For the second week in a row, Ya-Sin leads the cornerback group in snaps. Reed missed a handful of snaps while dealing with a minor injury and was replaced by Whiteside, but the veteran was able to return and finish off the game. Robertson, who was playing with a club on his hand due to an injury, saw his role dramatically reduced as a result.

The Lions deployed a lot more zone defense in this game—82%, according to Next Gen Stats—and the corners either failed consistently to find the proper depths in coverage, or the defensive play calls were wildly out of touch, often dropping fifteen yards in depth and allowing 10-yard completions on multiple third-and-long plays.

Safety:

Thomas Harper: 72 (97%)
Avonte Maddox: 69 (93%) — 4 (14%)
Daniel Thomas: 3 (4%) — 24 (86%)
Jalen Mills: Inactive

Harper flashed at times, showing his developing potential, but his inexperience also showed up, especially in run defense. Maddox has played great of late, but this is a game he’ll want to forget. He struggled with his run gaps, failed to wrap up tackles, and was out of position a frustrating number of times. Thomas found the field for three snaps when Maddox was injured and needed a replacement.