Lions don't believe offensive play-calling is an issue

With losses comes scrutiny, and offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi has experienced more than most this week.

For his play selection. For not knowing his quarterback was ailing after a big hit. And most of all, for the way he deployed the many weapons the Lions have on offense.

“You can blame Martin Mayhew and those guys,” Lombardi joked at his news conference today. “I think I said in the preseason, somebody’s going to be shortchanged every game. When you only have 40 plays (before the 2-minute) or 47 plays (for the game), everyone’s shortchanged.”

Ameer Abdullah had seven carries. Golden Tate caught four passes. Theo Riddick barely played until the final minutes. But no one was shortchanged more Sunday than Calvin Johnson, who 11 days shy of his 30th birthday remains the best receiver on the planet.

Johnson had four pass targets on 47 offensive plays — he played 44 of those snaps — and caught two passes for 39 yards in a 33-28 loss to the San Diego Chargers.

Lombardi echoed what Johnson, quarterback Matthew Stafford and coach Jim Caldwell have said in recent days, that Johnson is and always will be the focal point of the offense, and that game situations contributed to his limited use.

“We had 47 reps, 40 before the 2-minute drive,” Lombardi said. “We certainly had plays that he’s the primary, and for whatever reason, the situation didn’t work out where he was the guy to throw to. I think if we had our 60 normal reps, you would’ve seen the ball go to him a few more times. And that comes down to converting third downs and staying on the field as an offense, which we didn’t do a great job after that first drive. So, certainly Calvin Johnson’s not — he’s going to certainly get his touches this year, and I think that was an anomaly that we had this first game.”

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Johnson caught his first pass Sunday on the fifth play, though Lombardi said the Lions actually had a deep shot to Johnson dialed up on the first play from scrimmage but “the front wasn’t good for the protection we had, so we just had to check it to a run play.”

Lombardi admitted he could have been more aggressive in getting the ball to Johnson, who saw his usual assortment of double coverage with a cornerback playing underneath and a safety helping over top most of the game.

But he defended his play selection in general.

“I mean, listen, I don’t think it’s an issue,” Lombardi said. “There was 40 plays. We threw it to him four times. That’s 10% of the plays. We had more called to him. He didn’t get it. He’ll get it in the future, trust me.”

The Lions actually threw to Johnson just three times in the first 40 plays before their final 2-minute drive, and once for an 11-yard gain — his second catch — on the first play after the 2-minute warning.

At four targets in 47 offensive plays (8.5%), Johnson was utilized far less than at any point last year except for early-season games against the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills, when he was limited by a high-ankle sprain.

“That particular issue (not throwing to Johnson enough), obviously, it’ll be talked about until the point where the next game comes in, and after that, there’ll be another issue of some sort,” Caldwell said. “But I can tell you this, it’s not the first time that a primary player on any team hasn’t gotten the ball as much as you’d like him to get the ball, and it won’t be the last. That’s just kind of the way it goes because of flow of the game. There’s a lot of issues involved in that.”

Even though Johnson missed three games with the ankle injury last year, Lombardi said there’s no feeling-out period where he’s still trying to figure out how to best use Johnson. He said there will be times when they force Johnson the ball in spite of coverage designed to stop him — “You don’t always have to wait for the perfect look,” he said — and this week’s game against the Minnesota Vikings could be one of those times.

Last year, the Vikings were among the most successful teams against Johnson, holding him to four catches for 53 yards in a Lions victory at Ford Field in December. (Johnson missed an October game in Minnesota with the ankle injury.)

“Everyone’s kind of got a Calvin plan,” Lombardi said. “And you’ve got some plays to attack that coverage.”

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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