The Detroit Lions got off to a slow start last Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. Their offense got off to the worst start possible, losing 12 yards on the first three plays and falling behind 10-0 to a winless Cleveland Browns team.

Detroit’s offense eventually did get going, and it was the run game that got them moving downfield. Running back’s Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick combined for 87 yards on 15 carries between them. The two running backs averaged 5.8 yards per carry.

Just like the last time the Lions had a big day on the ground, most of the rushing yards came on chunk plays.

This first quarter run by Abdullah was the spark that got the Lions offense out of its early slouch:

This was a simple zone run off the left edge that Detroit executed perfectly. The guard and tackle on that side did a great job sealing off the edge for Abdullah while the tight end shoved the edge rusher out of the picture. Abdullah found the hole and burst through it, taking off downfield for a 20 yard gain.

Detroit brought in Riddick on the next play, and he busted off a big run of his own:

This was another outside zone run to the left side. Joe Schobert (No. 53) ran himself out of the play biting on the fake reverse the Lions showed in the backfield. Detroit’s guard got to the second level to get a block on James Burgess (No. 52), and sealed off the edge for Riddick. The running back had all kinds of space in front of him, and took off for a 21-yard rush to help flip the field in just two plays.

While Detroit did a great job breaking free on these outside zone rushes, those were still all they could do in the run game. Sixty of the 87 yards between them came on three carries, and 39 of Abdullah’s 52 came on just two.

If you remove those three attempts, the run game was extremely inefficient. Abdullah only had 13 yards on his other 9 rushes (1.4 ypc). The two combined only had 27 yards on 12 attempts (2.3 ypc)

On outside runs, the Lions can depend on Abdullah’s acceleration and vision to find whatever small spot may open up and burst through it. The running back is fast enough and smart enough to punish a defense if they stack up defenders on the interior. When running inside, though, Detroit’s offensive line fails to open up room for the back.

This was the Detroit Lions’ first play from scrimmage. Corey Robinson (No. 70) was playing his first career NFL snap at guard and he looked lost in his new position.

He tried to collapse inside to double-team Danny Shelton (No. 55), and allowed Emmanuel Ogbah (No. 90) to waltz right by him into the backfield. He was slow to react to that, allowing another man to get by him as well. Abdullah got tackled in the backfield for a six-yard loss, and Robinson ended the play not even having made contact with a single Browns defender.

But overall, Robinson had a decent day at guard, especially for a player who was playing in a new position. He helped block two defenders to set up Abdullah for a second-quarter touchdown:

Detroit’s running game is in an odd place. They have the outside zone runs mastered for the most part. These runs are easier to defend if there is not a threat of the run between the tackles, though. The Lions still haven’t figured out their run protection on the inside, and often these first-down runs on the inside lead to a loss of yardage that keeps the offense behind schedule.

Abdullah and Riddick are both talented backs that can explode when given enough space to operate. Neither are power backs, though, and they are not the guys who will push the pile an extra four or five yards past the line of scrimmage. If Detroit wants to finally fix their running game woes that have haunted them for years then they first need to fix their protection up front.

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