ALLEN PARK — A look under the hood of the Detroit Lions' rushing offense through six games paints a confusing picture.
On one hand, the Lions are fifth in rushing success rate (46.0%) and have produced 21 rushes of at least 10 yards, which is tied with the New York Jets for 10th most in the NFL, according to Next Gen Stats.
On the other, they're 21st in Expected Points Added (EPA) per rush (-0.09), and 20.9% of their rushes have been stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage (otherwise known as stuff rate), the fourth-worst mark in the league.
In simpler terms: Detroit's rushing attack, generally, have been consistent on a down-to-down basis, but when it goes bad, it goes bad.
"I see you're baffled by it," Dan Campbell said Monday, Oct. 26, when a reporter referenced some of those numbers in a question to the Lions coach. "It baffles me, too, sometimes."
What the Lions were able to do on the ground in their 20-17 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday is a perfect example. Jahmyr Gibbs went for over 100 yards, but 30.3% of Detroit's 33 rushing attempts were stuffed. That was the second-worst rate across the league for Week 7, pending the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles playing on Monday Night Football.
Gibbs had to be Superman at times, with the offensive line surrendering a notable amount of interior pressure. His 24 rushing yards before contact were a career low.
"There was a couple of one-on-one losses, just from technique," Campbell assessed. "Just bad footwork and whiff. There was a couple of those. And then the other ones were missed targets, either we're not all on the same page or we are, (but) this side of it is and this side isn't. Those are (mental errors).
"We're not on the same page, and that's what happens. We can't have that happen. We can't have a free runner there for Gibbs and we're 3 yards in the backfield there. That's our own doing. We've got to get that cleaned up."
What gives Campbell optimism about the offensive line improving, and thus the run game becoming more efficient, is the fact that all five members are now healthy. Cade Mays, who was previously out with a wrist injury, made his season debut against the Packers. He played 68 snaps.
Campbell also pointed to the natural progression that comes from young players, such as guard Tate Ratledge (25 years old, 23 career starts) and Christian Mahogany (26, 17).
"(Mays is) going to continue to get better, and the more he and the rest of those guys now can play together, I think it's going to go a long way. Because I kind of mentioned this, some of it is targets, we will get that cleaned up, we can get that cleaned up. Some of it, too, though is, man, we went way too far on this combination block. Like, everything is back inside," Campbell said.
"Some of it is the youth, if I'm being honest with you. Some of it is the youth or the rust. They're gonna get better, I believe that, and we're gonna harp on it, I'm gonna harp on it. Because we have to. We've got to eliminate these TFLs ... and, man, just give Gibbs a bit of a sliver. Because he'll do the rest."
rsilva@detroitnews.com
@rich_silva18
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Why Dan Campbell is confident Lions' run game efficiency will improve