Assuming the defense regresses following the departure of All-Pro tackle Ndamukong Suh, the only way the Detroit Lions are going to match their 11-win season is for the offense to start living up to expectations.
Here are three ways to make that happen:
--- 1. Quarterback Matthew Stafford, in his seventh NFL season, finds a happy medium between gunslinger and game manager.
Stafford did a better job of limiting costly blunders, throwing just 12 interceptions last season, but it came at the expense of making more big plays downfield.
"Our biggest thing, is, hey, in order to win football games, you've got to first not lose them," offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said. "I thought he played smarter football, sometimes to a fault. We'll look for him to maybe take a few more chances this year. He's got the arm to do it. He's got some receivers to throw to. "
Stafford completed 60.3 percent of his passes, which was his second-highest percentage in his career.
Coach Jim Caldwell, however, is looking for Stafford's accuracy to improve to 62-63 percent.
Stafford completed 63.5 percent during his best season in 2011 when he passed for 5,033 yards and 41 touchdowns.
"Growth and development is extremely important, particularly at this stage," Caldwell said. "You can see he made some improvement last year. I think you'll see him make a little bit more improvement next year."
--- 2. Identify a third weapon in the passing game to help complement receivers Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate.
Lombardi expects tight end Eric Ebron, last year's first-round draft pick, to emerge as that man.
Ebron had just 25 catches for 248 yards and one touchdown as a rookie.
"It's critical," Lombardi said of additional weapon. "I think Eric's the guy that we're really counting on to do that, and really getting all the tight ends more involved.
"I think that's going to be a big key to our growth is to get more production from Eric. I think he's ready to do that. He's been making some trips to Atlanta to work with Matt this offseason.
"The thing you like about Eric is he's a bright kid, he works hard and he wants to be good. We expect very big things from him."
Ebron wasn't ready to contribute at that level a year ago.
"There's a big learning curve, obviously, for any rookie," Lombardi said. "The tight-end position is one that requires a lot. As you look back, If you're self-critical, you might say that we asked a little bit too much of him from that perspective.
"I think there's just a volume that he struggled with early, but ... for anybody, the second year is always when you see the biggest jump."
Ebron took a lot of heat for not producing more, but Caldwell said the rookie's performance was understandable.
"In his defense, this is a difficult league to play in," Caldwell said. "On good teams, very rarely do you see a rookie come in and set the world on fire. It just takes a little bit to get their feet underneath them. I think he's that way."
--- 3. Whatever Stafford and the other skill-position players do won't be nearly enough if the offensive line doesn't play better.
The Lions ranked 28th in rushing in the NFL (88.9 yards per game, 3.6 yards per carry) and gave up the 11th-most sacks (45).
In both cases, the O-line was unquestionably the weakest link.
"I think the offensive line and the injuries we had to deal with there were as big a factor as anything," Lombardi said. "I don't know if I've ever seen an offensive line go through the string of injuries that we had."
Right tackle LaAdrian Waddle missed six games because of injuries, right guard Larry Warford three and left tackle Riley Reiff one.
The Lions are making at least one major change up front with Travis Swanson, a third-round draft pick last year, expected to replace Dominic Raiola at center.
The left-guard position remains unclear because Rob Sims is a free agent and hasn't been re-signed, at least not yet.
A first-round draft pick, 23rd overall, could be used to try to upgrade the offensive line, either at guard or tackle.
"Your offensive line's attitude permeates the whole team," Lombardi said. "You want those guys to be tough, aggressive and to go out every Sunday and kick some ass."
If they did that and the run game made a significant improvement, everything else likely would fall into place for the offense, especially for Stafford, who has never had the benefit of a solid ground attack.
NOTES
--- Detroit Lions safety James Ihedigbo plans to skip the voluntary off-season workout program, according to the team's broadcast partner, Channel 7, the local ABC affiliate.
Ihedigbo, entering the final season of a two-year deal that he signed as an unrestricted free agent last spring, is seeking a contract extension.
He's coming off a solid first year overall with the Lions although he faded late in the season and even got benched during the regular-season finale.
The Lions are scheduled to begin the first phase of their off-season workouts on April 20.
--- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced Tuesday night that they've signed defensive end George Johnson, a restricted free agent, to a three-year contract for an undisclosed amount.
The Lions have five days to match the offer if they want to keep Johnson, who made six sacks in his first season with Detroit.
