Lions Saints Football

Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford expects fewer surprises on Sundays with opposing defenses no longer having to bust out exotic coverages to slow Calvin Johnson.

(AP Photo)

ALLEN PARK -- Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford insists he's not going to spend a lot of time thinking about the absence of wide receiver Calvin Johnson, who retired this offseason after nine seasons. Stafford understands focusing on the past isn't going to help the current roster win games.

While it's difficult to replace Johnson's talent, Stafford was able to predict a silver lining in the star receiver's departure.

"I expect that what I look at on tape will now be what I actually see on Sunday, which is quite different than it has been for the last seven years," Stafford said. "That will be a positive."

For years, Stafford has talked about opponents surprising the Lions with their defensive game plans. It wasn't a matter of being unprepared as much as it was defenses throwing unique coverage looks at Johnson that they hadn't previously shown on film.

This year, without Johnson, the Lions will naturally be more offensively balanced.

Detroit moved aggressively in free agency to replace a healthy portion of Johnson's production, inking the top option on the market, Marvin Jones.

Stafford's familiarity with Jones actually comes from attempting to understand how opponents might cover Johnson. The quarterback would often study Cincinnati Bengals game film when the teams had common opponents, searching for game plan clues based on which coverages were utilized to try and slow Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green.

"He flashed on the tape quite a bit," Stafford said about Jones, who caught 65 passes for 816 yards and four touchdowns in 2015.

Paired with Golden Tate, the Lions should have a solid one-two punch in the passing game. That will be supplemented by running backs Theo Riddick and Ameer Abdullah, tight end Eric Ebron and veteran slot receiver Jeremy Kerley.

-- Download the Detroit Lions MLive app for iPhone and Android

-- Follow Justin Rogers on Twitter

-- Follow MLive Sports on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram