National Football League

Lions try to regroup after latest disaster

Published Nov. 3, 2009 12:05 a.m. ET

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Jim Schwartz doesn't want his Detroit Lions to play an overly conservative offense. Without Calvin Johnson, he doesn't think he has much of a choice. Even with a bye week to prepare and the return of rookie quarterback Matt Stafford, the Lions (1-6) couldn't move the ball consistently against the hapless St. Louis Rams on Sunday, losing 17-10 to a team that hadn't won a game in over a year. Schwartz doesn't think that Johnson is Detroit's only offensive weapon, but acknowledges that his presence is needed for his other players to get the space they require. "Calvin affects the coverages we see and everything that teams do against us, because they always have to account for him," Schwartz said Monday. "That's true of every great player. For Minnesota, Adrian Peterson is a great running back that opens up the passing game because teams have to focus on him. Calvin does that for us." The Lions have scored only one touchdown in the two games Johnson has missed with a knee injury. Against the Rams, Stafford hit on just 14 of 33 passes for 168 yards, and didn't complete a throw to a wide receiver until the fourth quarter. Schwartz said the coaching staff counted six drops by Detroit receivers, including five in the first half. The first - and possibly most damaging - came on the Lions' opening drive, when Bryant Johnson couldn't hold onto a long pass that would have put Detroit into field-goal position. "This is the first game where we have consistently had drops," Schwartz said. "Wide receivers are going to drop some balls - it is unrealistic to think that they will catch every single pass - but when you have a situation like we had where there are consistent drops, there has to be some accountability." Lions rookie tight end Brandon Pettigrew agreed. "There were some drops and some that would have been tough plays, but we've got to start making tough plays," he said. "The drops are a matter of focus, but we have to do more than just routine execution." Schwartz has never been forthcoming about the status of injured players, and that didn't change Monday. When asked if he expected to have Johnson back for Sunday's trip to Seattle (2-2), he said only that Johnson's return was "closer." Along with Johnson's absence, Schwartz sees another factor holding back Detroit's offense: the lack of big plays in the running game. "There's a difference between running the ball effectively and explosively," he said. "We've made consistent yards, but we need to break some longer runs - make a safety miss and go for 40 yards. That's really where our running game has been lacking." Because of Kevin Smith's shoulder problems, he and Maurice Morris split time in the backfield against the Rams, but Schwartz said that isn't the plan going forward. "Kevin is our workhorse running back, and he's going to get most of the carries," he said. "We've always wanted to get Maurice some work. That's the case everywhere. As great as Adrian Peterson is, Chester Taylor gets a lot of carries. We don't see this as a 50-50 split, but in this game, injuries kind of pushed us to that."

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