I still hate Detroit Lions' final call vs. Raiders. But here's why I understand it

Dave Birkett | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Detroit Lions suffer another maddening loss. What happened at Raiders? Lions suffer another maddening loss, this time to the Raiders. Debating the fourth-and-goal play call in Oakland, Nov. 3, 2019.

I hated Darrell Bevell’s play call on the game-deciding play in Sunday’s loss to the Oakland Raiders.

Eight seconds left, fourth-and-goal from the 1, a got-to-have-it situation, as Matt Patricia likes to say. I want my best players on the field, and for the Lions that means Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones, specifically.

But after watching the coaches film from that game, and going back and watching every goal-line offensive play the Lions have ran this year, I understand the call a little bit more from a football perspective.

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“We’re on the 1-yard line,” Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford explained after the game. “That’s the plays that we run in practice all the time from the 1 and the 2. That’s one of them, and it didn’t work. We didn’t convert, we didn’t score, we didn’t win the game, so you can look at it all you want from that perspective.”

The Lions, in case you forgot, lined up in a pseudo goal-line package for the final play. Ty Johnson and Nick Bawden were in the I-formation in the backfield, and the Lions had two tight ends — Jesse James and Logan Thomas — on the field, along with a sixth lineman, Tyrell Crosby.

Typically, the Lions would use three tight ends in that formation, but T.J. Hockenson was injured a few players earlier and on the sideline being evaluated for a concussion. The Lions, due to injuries, also were without their starting running back (Kerryon Johnson, who’s on injured reserve) and both starting guards (Graham Glasgow, who didn’t make the trip, and Joe Dahl, who also got hurt on that series).

Stafford play-actioned a run fake to Johnson and almost immediately had Raiders defensive end Clelin Ferrell in his face on a pass rush. Ferrell made a great play slipping James’ block and recognizing the pass.

“I would say he's probably the one guy that just read the play really well,” Lions coach Matt Patricia said.

With a rusher bearing down on him, Stafford flipped a pass to Thomas in the back of the end zone. Raiders safety Karl Joseph met Thomas in the air, and Thomas couldn’t hang onto the catch, preserving Oakland’s 31-24 victory.

For this week’s film study, I went back and looked at every goal-line play (from the 1- or 2-yard line) the Lions have run this year in an attempt to understand what they were trying to do against Oakland.

Like I said, I still don’t like the play call, one that gave Stafford just two passing options. But this helps explain why they did what they did, and Bevell’s goal-line strategy altogether.

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Week 9 vs. Oakland Raiders

The Lions actually had two goal-line snaps in Sunday’s first quarter, a third-and-2 pass that Stafford threw just out of the reach of J.D. McKissic and a fourth-and-2 snap one play later that Stafford completed for a touchdown to Jones.

On third-and-2, the Lions lined up in an empty backfield but with McKissic on the field split slot left, three tight ends deployed across the formation and Bawden split wide right — essentially the same personnel they used on their final incomplete pass, but spread in an obvious pass formation.

McKissic lined up in a stack formation behind Hockenson and appeared to be Stafford’s hot read against a blitzing Raiders defense. Stafford just missed McKissic on the pass, but the conversion was there for making against an Oakland defense that countered with most of its big personnel on the field.

On fourth down, the Lions used a more traditional personnel group, splitting receivers Jones, Golladay and Danny Amendola to the right of center, with Hockenson attached to the left side of the line and McKissic in the backfield. Jones motioned to the left pre-snap and was one-on-one against cornerback Daryl Worley.

Stafford did an excellent job looking Oakland’s single high safety off to the right, and Jones beat Worley on a smooth slant route for an easy touchdown.

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Week 7 vs. Minnesota Vikings

Stafford threw a touchdown pass to Jones on second-and-goal from the 3-yard line out of “11” or three-receiver personnel, but that doesn’t quite fit into our definition of a goal-line play.

They also scored on a second-and-goal pass from the 2, again to Jones, late in the fourth quarter with three receivers on the field. Jones ran a simple fade route against Xavier Rhodes, and Stafford made a nice back-shoulder throw, with some run action on the play that appeared to give Stafford the option to hand the ball off to Ty Johnson based on the defensive look. Both defensive end Danielle Hunter and safety Anthony Harris played the run initially before recognizing the pass.

It should be noted that the Lions were in hurry-up mode at this point in the game and not inclined to substitute personnel on and off the field.

Week 6 at Green Bay Packers

The Lions called running plays out of their jumbo formation on a pair of goal-line snaps from the 1-yard line in the first quarter of their loss to the Packers. Kerryon Johnson and Bawden lined up in an I-formation on both snaps, with three tight ends on the field. The personnel group was similar to what the Lions used against the Raiders, albeit with Johnson in the backfield and Hockenson as the third tight end instead of an extra lineman.

Johnson was stopped trying to leap across the goal line on his first attempt, and lowered his head and followed Bawden into the end zone on his second for a 1-yard touchdown.

In the second quarter, the Lions lined up for back-to-back snaps from the 2. On second-and-goal, receivers Jones and Golladay were split left, Hockenson was wide right, James was attached to the left side of the line of scrimmage and Johnson was in the backfield.

Stafford threw a well-placed jump ball to Hockenson in one-on-one coverage, but the rookie tight end dropped the ball as he came down.

On third-and-goal from the 2, the Lions put Kerryon Johnson in the backfield, attached Thomas to the right side of scrimmage and lined up Jones, Golladay and McKissic in a bunch formation to the left. The play appeared to either be a handoff to Johnson or quick pass to Jones, but it never got off as the Lions were called for delay of game.

Week 4 vs. Kansas City Chiefs

The Lions had a third-and-goal from the Kansas City 2 on the game’s opening drive and used “11” personnel with Golladay, Jones and Marvin Hall at wide receiver, Hockenson at tight end and Kerryon Johnson in the backfield.

The Lions stacked two receivers to each side of the line of scrimmage, faked a shotgun handoff to Johnson that drew the attention of two Kansas City linebackers, and ran three receivers on crossing routes — Hockenson stayed in to block — in the middle of the field.

With six defenders dropped in coverage, Stafford had no receiver open and took a sack.

Later in the game, in the third quarter, the Lions ran the ball on first-and-goal from the 1 with Hockenson and essentially three receivers on the field. Jones split left and motioned towards the formation pre-snap, Golladay split wide right and McKissic lined up in what was essentially an H-back role offset to the right.

Johnson might have scored if not for a missed block on the play. Tyrann Mathieu knifed past Jones to hit Johnson in the backfield. But the Lions ended up fumbling on the play, when Johnson stretched for the goal line, and the Chiefs returned the loose ball 100 yards for a touchdown.

Week 3 at Philadelphia Eagles

The Lions ran three plays from the 1-yard line against the Eagles, all out of their jumbo formation with three tight ends and two running backs on the field. Kerryon Johnson was stopped for no gain on the first snap, a second-and-goal play, and he scored on a third-and-goal plunge, but in between the Lions did attempt a pass out of the formation only to have their incompletion – Hockenson was out of bounds when he caught the ball – nullified by penalty.

The Lions’ third-down pass against the Eagles was similar to the one they failed to convert against the Raiders, only Stafford had three options on the play instead of two and he made a much less demonstrative play fake and never turned his back on the line of scrimmage. Against Oakland, Bawden stayed in to block, and when James got caught at the line of scrimmage, Stafford, who booted to the left after faking a handoff to the right, was left with one choice – to throw the ball to Thomas in the back of the end zone.

Overall

By passing the ball on fourth-and-goal against the Raiders, the Lions were actually breaking tendency.

On their first six plays from the 1 this year, including the penalty by the Eagles, they ran the ball five times and scored twice. Five of those plays (four runs and a pass; all but the Johnson fumble against the Chiefs) came out of the jumbo formation that the Lions essentially used against the Raiders.

(On six plays from the 2, the Lions have a heavy pass tendency, throwing five times with one play aborted due to penalty. From the 2, the Lions have used three receivers four times, three tight ends once and never been in their jumbo package. They scored both times they targeted Jones.)

The Lions got the look they wanted on their final play against the Raiders, with Thomas singled up against safety Karl Joseph. They just couldn’t make the necessary plays to win, either blocking Ferrell or catching the ball.

That doesn’t mean the call was correct. With Kerryon Johnson on injured reserve, Hockenson on the sideline being checked for a concussion and two guards out, the Lions were down key personnel.

I’d want Jones, my best short-yardage weapon, as an option in that situation. But from a conceptual standpoint, Bevell's call makes sense.

"Really thought that play had a good chance in practice and thought we had a good chance with it (Sunday)," Patricia said after the game. "Just obviously didn’t execute it very well. And they played it really well."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.Read more on the Detroit Lions and sign up for our Lions newsletter.