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Lions offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi has pared down his playbook for this week's game against New England. (Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions were held without a touchdown Sunday against Arizona, the first time that has happened in five years.

There has been a lot of fuss made over the playcalling, but it turns out execution really was a problem.

Some players ran the wrong routes. Others missed blocking assignments. Put it all together, and it's easy to understand why Detroit looked so dysfunctional in that game.

So the Lions are making a change.

Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said before Thursday's practice that he is reducing the playcalls by up to 20 percent for Sunday's game against the New England Patriots.

"It's easy to say, 'Hey, this guy has to line up in the right spot, and that guy has to block this correctly,'" Lombardi said. "But as a coach you have to take responsibility and say, 'Hey, we need to coach it better.'"

Lombardi is in his first year calling plays for the Lions. He previously was Drew Brees' quarterback coach in New Orleans, and brought a Saints-style playbook to Detroit.

Tailback Reggie Bush, who also played in New Orleans, affirmed this week that the playbooks are nearly identical.

That system is notorious for being play-heavy, and it appears the Lions believe paring down what players have to prepare for in a given week could help it all run smoother.

"You can kind of over-plan, and have more offense than maybe what you need," Lombardi said. "Just being prepared for different situations. Just being a little more precise throughout the week, and maybe having a little less insecurity as a coach, like, 'Hey, I want all these plays in case ...,' and we don't need them.

"It's not a huge deal. It's just limiting a little bit around the perimeter, where we're practicing things we know we're going to do with a little more precision."

The Lions offense can get in about 200 reps per practice week. They'll still run the same number of reps this week, but cut the number of different plays they're installing.

That will allow them to run those plays a few more times, against a few more defensive looks, instead of just running them a couple times or so and then moving on.

"If you have less calls, you can show them more situations, and you're not just talking about them," Lombardi said. "It's just a matter of practicing fewer plays, and then they are able to handle all the different looks that might come up."

The Lions' offensive problems run deeper than just a week. They've scored just one first-half touchdown the past four weeks, and rank 26th overall in scoring at 18.8 points per game.

By comparison, New England averages 18.3 points in the first half.

Detroit's passing attack ranks 12th, which is disappointing given that it has a franchise quarterback in Matthew Stafford, as well as the league's best receiver in Calvin Johnson and the league's top free-agent signing in Golden Tate.

The rushing game is far worse, tied with Arizona for 30th in the league. Only the winless Raiders are worse.

Lombardi, who is calling plays for the first time in his career, has come under scrutiny for the disappointment. He's acknowledged that things aren't working, and shown a willingness to change his approach.

And he still believes this offense can come around in time to help make a playoff push.

"I think we've had spurts where we've shown they can do it," he said. "So I know the players are good, and I trust in the coaches and what they're doing.

"It's a matter of keep tweaking and keep working -- keep chopping wood -- and it'll come around."

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