It hasn’t exactly been a great start to the season for the Lions. Despite being a playoff team a year ago, Detroit has dropped their first three games of the season and have a -27 point differential.
For Lions fans, it must feel like the other team knows what plays the team’s going to run in advance. Well, in fact, that might actually be true, at least according to Lions’ wide receiver Golden Tate.
When speaking to 105.1 Detroit Sports, Tate told host Matt Dery that in each of the three games for the Lions this season against the Chargers, Vikings, and Broncos, Tate was told by members of the opposing team that they knew what play was coming.
“I’ve had a couple occasions in literally each game where they called out our play, for one, then afterwards been like, ‘Hey, we knew what you guys were doing,'” Tate told Matt Dery on Tuesday afternoon. “I don’t know how they know, or what film they’re watching that we’re giving away. That’s something we got to go back and watch our tendencies to figure out where we line up or how we line up or what formation or whatever it may be.
“We’ve got to figure it out because we’re clearly giving it away. All three weeks, a player’s come up to me and said, ‘We knew where you were going to.’ That’s bad.”
That is bad, like really bad. It would be one thing if it was an isolated incident and we had another Spygate-like situation going on, but it’s unlikely that three separate teams are doing something illegal, and more feasible that the Lions are just somehow screwing up and tipping their plays off to the opposing team’s coaches.
Among the plays who were seemingly tipped off include a fourth-quarter play in the Broncos-Lions game from last week. With the Lions driving, Matthew Stafford’s pass was intercepted by the Broncos’ David Bruton, Jr. to help seal the game for Denver. Afterward, Bruton Jr. told Mile-High Sports that he knew exactly what the Lions were doing, which allowed him to make the play.
They’ve had a high tendency to show a particular play, especially a wrap-six, so usually the No. 2 receiver sits down about 5 or 6 yards with a guy running a dig route right behind it.
“We were just alert, and once I saw the running back chip before his release, I knew what was coming. So I just read Stafford’s eyes, broke on the ball and was able to make a play.”
Interestingly, the Lions were accused of having a nearly identical offense as the Saints by Drew Brees last year, and now, this season, they’re seemingly tipping off their own plays (perhaps you can connect the dots of why the Saints and Lions record is a combined 0-6).
Detroit plays the Seahawks and Cardinals in the next two weeks, so they need to figure out the issue ASAP if they want to get out alive against those two defenses.
Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi is already feeling the fire for having the league’s 27th-ranked offense (with a healthy Calvin Johnson, no less), and if it comes out that his formations were tipping off opponents, he might not make it past next week.
