We still do not know for sure who will be calling plays for the Detroit Lions in 2022 but we do know that whether that is Dan Campbell or new offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, one of the goals will be to put opposing defenses in stressful situations.
Prior to Saturday’s rookie minicamp practice, Campbell spoke to the media and when he was asked about how the Lions’ offense will look different in 2022, he noted that “tempo” was going to be very important.
“We’re going to be much more efficient just with how we get things in and out of the huddle,” Campbell said. “The ability to change our tempo will be big. Some of that just comes from verbiage alone, believe it or not. I just feel like everything is just going to be so much more streamlined.”
Campbell noted that when he is referring to “tempo”, he is not just referring to high tempo. Instead, he is talking about changing things up so that the defense feels stress and has to adjust.
http://gty.im/1238931103
“Whether that’s with high tempo or not, could be we’re just back on the line,” Campbell explained. “No tempo, we’re not huddling, which that in itself puts stress on the defense.”
“We want to be able to do everything and anything we can at any given time,” Campbell said. “I feel like what we’re implementing will allow us to do that. You just want to get to the point where you know that, offensively, you can do anything and everything in your arsenal to put stress on the defense.”
http://gty.im/1237636111
During the 2021 season, according to Football Outsiders, the Lions were No. 13 in the NFL as they snapped the ball in an average of 27.43 seconds. In neutral situations (close game and clock did not dictate tempo), the Lions were the fourth slowest, ahead of only the Bengals, Packers, and Colts.
When we see the Lions’ offense in 2022, don’t expect to see the Lions flying out of the huddle all of the time but, instead, look for them to mix it up more to keep opposing defenses off balance.
