The Lions gashed the Vikings defense for 230 yards on the ground and 10 runs of 10 yards or more in Week 8. It was the 2nd-most rushing yards Minnesota has allowed since Brian Flores became the defensive coordinator in 2023.
Lions Offensive Coordinator Drew Petzing has brought back much of the creativity that defined Detroit’s rushing attack under Ben Johnson. And that played a significant role in their ability to dominate the Vikings on the ground on Sunday.
The key for Petzing was the way he sought to keep the Vikings’ blitz schemes from creating negative, drive-killing plays in the run game, and how that created some huge holes for Jahmyr Gibbs to run through.
This 12-yard run on a 2nd-and-10 in the first quarter is a great example. First, notice the look. Detroit used an offset fullhouse formation with two tight ends and Gibbs (#0) aligned to the right of the center:
The Vikings would bring a fire-X blitz inside:
However, tight end Brock Wright (#89) would insert between the center and right guard:
That enabled Wright and Center Cade Mays to build a wall and seal off the blitz inside, which created a huge crease to the left for Gibbs to run through:
That wasn’t the only time they used this formation, though. You can see the same thing below, this time to the left side: