NFL Matchup’s Executive Producer shares notes from his study of Week 16 coaching tape: the Lions offense vs. the Chargers defense.
- Lions shot play on game’s 1st play, Stafford never should have thrown the ball to Johnson yet it ended up being a 46 yd completion – There was no definition and Stafford just threw it up for grabs
- Chargers matched Jammer on Johnson when Johnson aligned on the outside
- Hughes remained the Chargers nickel slot corner as he has been all season
- Pettigrew 7 yd TD one-on-one matchup with LB Diggs, Result of double on Johnson with Jammer and Weddle on the same side – Johnson factor in the red zone
Matthew Stafford (AP)
- Stafford threw with great velocity and accuracy right from the start, He put the ball on his receivers hands – Outstanding ball location
- NT Thomas an improving player over the last month, Good athleticism and movement for a 330 pound NT
- Lions have OL issues with pass protection, Tackles Backus and Cherilus both struggled in this game
- Chargers defense not very good, Did not generate any consistent pressure on Stafford and their zone coverage concepts had a lot of voids
- Chargers defense did not play their zone coverage concepts very well in this game, Too many large voids
- Smith 3 yd TD catch came v. man coverage, LB Spikes late reacting – Lions again doubled Johnson with Jammer and Gregory
- Stafford was decisive with his reads and throws, and most importantly he was consistently accurate
- What could hurt the Lions in the playoffs is they don’t have a consistent base run game
- This was a very poor defensive performance by the Chargers; Stafford was very sharp but there were far too many open receivers, Stafford did not have to make many difficult throws
- A very positive performance by Stafford re: accuracy, He was as precise as any game this season
