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The Lions’ offense has been decried as too predictable throughout the season, starting with a Week One loss in which the Jets’ defense said it knew what was coming from Detroit’s offense. Peyton Manning has now identified one of the problems the Lions are having.

In one of his regular videos analyzing quarterback play, Manning points to a pass Matthew Stafford threw that got knocked down at the line of scrimmage by Dolphins linebacker Kiko Alonso. Manning said that Stafford was staring at his first option from the start, and Alonso read Stafford’s eyes, saw that Stafford wanted to throw a quick pass to his right, and jumped into Stafford’s throwing lane just as Stafford was releasing the ball.

“As a quarterback, believe it or not, we need to use our eyes to look off defensive linemen and pass rushers,” Manning said. “Don’t stare at the receiver because then the pass rushers know where you’re going to go. So look off. Even though if you know you’re gonna throw it out there to the right and to the flat, look left to start, or look down the middle. Don’t let those defensive linemen know where you’re going.”

Lions head coach Matt Patricia and offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter have bristled at suggestions that opposing defenses know what the Lions are doing. But the Lions would be wise to do some self-scouting to see if Manning has a point that Stafford can do a better job of keeping opposing defenses from reading his eyes.