The Detroit Lions offense has the unenviable task of trying to score points against the mighty Minnesota Vikings defense in their Week 8 matchup. Minnesota’s defense may not be historic.But Brian Flores is very, very good at calling the shots in the blitz-heavy scheme. Minnesota is the only undefeated team in the league going into the week 6-0, but the offense has not been encouraging, and now 11 teams are ahead. FanDuel NFL Championship Odds.
Even after losing former OC Ben Johnson to the Chicago Bears a few seasons ago, the Lions’ offense has been excellent. Detroit is still coming up with some very interesting passing concepts to complement Jameer Gibbs in the running game, and they used one of them to convert a long 3rd-and-8 in the third quarter against Minnesota.
Detroit went straight out of the CFL when star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown lined up 15-yards behind the line of scrimmage, then allowed him to run to catch a screen pass and convert the first down. The Lions would score one point on the next play and beat the Vikings 19-15, handing Minnesota their first loss of the year. Watch the critical third down conversion here:
You see this type of play a lot in the CFL, where the continuous movement of qualified receivers outside the line is legal as you catch the ball in any direction. The NFL limits movement to one player moving horizontally or backwards, but this play is legal as long as St. Brown moves correctly.
The Lions put Goff in a shotgun to get him up to speed and hit the plate as he prepared to throw. As long as St. Brown reports as eligible and the Lions have the required number of players on the line, the play is legal. Detroit had a TE in Los on the left side of the formation to fill the line requirement.
This was a great game for the Lions with a big win. Let’s hope Campbell is okay.
