6 keys to a Detroit Lions’ victory over the Cleveland Browns

The Detroit Lions (2-1) and and Cleveland Browns (1-2) will square off in a Week 4 interconference matchup. The Lions will be back home for this game, hoping to keep their winning streak going under the friendly dome of Ford Field. To do that, they’ll need to follow the keys to victory laid out in this week’s Honolulu Blueprint.

“We’ve got another task here in front of us. This defense is outstanding for Cleveland,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said on Tuesday. “So, we’re going to have our hands full here. Short week, but we’ll be ready to go.”

For a detailed look at the opposing scheme, make sure you check out our complementary breakdown piece: Lions Week 4 Preview: Breaking down Browns’ offensive and defensive schemes.

Key 1: Target the intermediate level early

The Browns are a very good pass-rushing team, as their scheme is designed for this, and they currently have the NFL’s 10th-best pressure rate (37.6%), the third-most sacks (11), and the league’s best sack rate (11.8%). Perennial All-Pro EDGE Myles Garrett accounts for 4.0 sacks (second most in NFL), a 5.3% sack rate (third), 12 QB pressures (eighth), and 16% pressure rate (eighth). On average, Garrett gets pressure by 2.84 seconds, which is actually the slowest of the Browns’ starting four defensive linemen: EDGE Isaiah McGuire (2.57 seconds), DT Maliek Collins (2.64), and rookie DT Mason Graham (2.74).

The first step in slowing down the Browns’ attacking defense is to find quick, early success. The easiest way for the Lions to accomplish that is through their intermediate passing game. Entering this week, the Lions are the second most efficient team when passing to the intermediate area of the field, while the Browns rank 27th in efficiency in defending this area, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats.

Overall, the Lions have the most efficient passing attack in the NFL, per Next Gen Stats, and quarterback Jared Goff is at his best when facing man coverage. Meanwhile, the Browns run more man coverage than any other team in the NFL. A highly favorable situation for the Lions, according to Next Gen Stats:

Against man coverage, Jared Goff has completed 19 of 23 passes for 168 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions this season. His completion percentage over expected (+21.4%), passing success rate (65.2%), and his expected points added per dropback (+0.86) when facing man all rank first among qualified passers.

The quickness of the Browns’ front will make throwing the deep ball early challenging, but by softening up coverage with success at the intermediate level, the Lions will open up opportunities for explosive plays both down the field and in the run game.

The Browns have an incredibly impressive defensive front, and they’ve been thriving at stopping the run early in 2025. So far, Cleveland’s run defense checks in amongst the best in the NFL in the following categories:

“They’re really good. They get after it, they’re relentless,” Lions offensive coordinator John Morton said of the Browns defense. “That’s the biggest thing that you see. I mean, it’s speed coming off the ball. They’re great technicians. We’ve got to be on top of our game.”

The Browns’ defensive line’s quickness off the ball is incredible, and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz weaponizes their speed with his attacking scheme. With Garrett commanding constant double teams, the Browns’ other linemen often draw one-on-one matchups, and they’ve been taking advantage.

But like every scheme in the NFL, no matter how Superman they look, they have their Kryptonite.

The Lions ran a ton of aone and duo blocking schemes against the Ravens on Monday night, but the beauty of the Lions’ scheme is that they have a plethora of blocking concepts that they introduce into their offensive scheme. The week prior, against Chicago, the Lions incorporated other concepts like Pin-Pull and Wham blocks to slow down the Bears’ aggressive front.

“Pin-Pull” is one of the most effective ways to slow down a get-upfield-at-all-costs defensive front. For this concept, the Lions line up in a bunch formation—which they do often, so they don’t tip their hands—and bring a wide receiver or tight end tight with the offensive line. At the snap, one of the skill players crashes down on the defensive line’s edge player, changing the angle of his block and hopefully catching him by surprise. As the skill player “pins” the defender, the offensive lineman (and in the case below, also the tight end) “pulls” around the “pin” and creates a new rushing alley outside of the defensive line. Effectively using their aggression against them.

Here’s an example from Week 2, where Amon-Ra St. Brown is the “pin” and Penei Sewell and Brock Wright are the “pull” — Note, we also see Kalif Raymond (yellow) being motioned across, also removing a defender, but more on that later:

A “Wham” block is another way to execute a “Trap” block by using an offensive skill player to get an advantageous blocking angle on an aggressive defensive lineman, ideally opening up a significant hole for the running back to create an explosive play.

In the example below, the Lions use Wright (red) to “Wham” block the defensive tackle, freeing up Sewell to attack the outside edge, and with Tate Ratledge now freed up to block left, Graham Glasgow has a clear path to the second level where he can wall off the linebacker. Additionally, Kalif Raymond (yellow) crashes down on the safety, who has eyes in the backfield and doesn’t see him coming to seal the edge. Jahmyr Gibbs rushes for 42 yards on this play.

As you may have noticed in both examples, the rushing windows are tight, and these plays require a few things in order to work effectively. First, teams need strong and athletic offensive linemen, which is why the Lions like to run these concepts behind Sewell. They also need a running back who can get north-south quickly, and as we learned on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football”, Jahmyr Gibbs gets to the line of scrimmage faster than any other back in the NFL. Finally, teams also need offensive skill players who can be trusted to be effective blockers in space, and the Lions arguably have the best group in the NFL.

“It’s the best I’ve ever seen. My 28 years of coaching, the way these wide receivers block, the way (wide receivers coach) Scottie (Montgomery) gets these guys to play […] I mean, they get after it, they take pride in it,” Morton said on Thursday. “I always told the wideouts, man, when the tight ends and the O-line and backs, they’re blocking for us, when the time comes, our turn to block for them, we’ve got to do the same thing. That’s the beauty about this team. It’s so team-oriented. Nobody cares about how many balls this and that. It’s just about winning. And when we do that, man, we’re pretty good.”

While Pin-Pull and Wham blocks can create explosive plays when utilized correctly, they can’t be the foundation of a rushing scheme. The Lions will still need to run, Zone and Duo, as well as Gaps and Traps, but the beauty of the Lions’ offensive line is that they have the skill sets to execute all those concepts.

“Our front, right now, we’re moving guys. I don’t think they’ve seen a run game like ours yet,” Morton continued. “We have patience. We stick with it. I think that’s the biggest thing. Let’s keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

Key 3: Misdirection with pre-snap motion

The Lions’ offensive scheme calls for a lot of pre-snap motion (around 70% of offensive plays) to disguise their intentions, and in Week 3 against the Ravens, we saw that on full display. Not only did the Lions show traditional pre-snap movement, but they also introduced a new formation, the Maryland-I, which made pre-snap reads even more challenging for Baltimore.

According to Next Gen Stats, the Lions are making the most out of these pre-snap shifts and are gaining three yards more per play when they use pre-snap motions, as opposed to when they stay static. Here’s a breakdown from Next Gen Stats:

Despite having the 7th-highest motion rate in the league (69.7%), the Lions average the most yards per play when motioning (7.2). Gaining only 4.2 yards per play without motion, the Lions also possess the largest margin in yards per play between motioning and not (3.0), with the 2nd-place Jets nearly half a yard below them. Matchup: The Browns allow the 5th-fewest yards per play against motion plays (4.2) and the fewest yards per play without motion (3.0).

As illustrated above in the “Pin-Pull” picture, you can see Kalif Raymond (yellow arrow) in pre-snap motion moving away from the play direction, and the defensive back in man coverage is also shadowing him and vacating the area. This further opens up the rushing lanes the Lions want, and something the Lions could also exploit against the Browns, as they currently run more man-coverage than any team in the NFL.

“We’re all trying to create mismatches,” Morton explained. “That’s the way I was taught. How do I create a mismatch? Get this guy on that guy. Different formations and things, I mean, they change week to week to get guys open, to keep the defense off their toes. But again, can’t do all this stuff if we’re not really smart. So, it’s cool when you’ve got all these weapons.”

Key 4: Heavy man, short zone

The Browns have thrown the ball more than every other team in the NFL, but the offense has failed to produce standout numbers. Part of the reason for that lack of success is poor efficiency and execution, but there’s also a heap of blame that can be assigned to play calling and target choices.

For example, Browns quarterback Joe Flacco has attempted 126 passes through three games, but only 24 have traveled more than 12 yards. Of those 24 passing attempts, only nine were completions, one was a touchdown, and Flacco threw three of his interceptions when targeting receivers downfield.

Here’s Next Gen Stats’ passing charts for each of Flacco’s games in 2025:

Making matters even more challenging for Flacco is the fact that his receivers simply aren’t getting open very often. On average, the Browns’ skill players only gain 3.1 yards of separation per passing target, which ranks them 29th in the NFL.

As a result, the Browns’ opposing defenses have been deploying more man coverage and forcing Flacco to make tighter window throws. With 20% of Flacco’s targets also coming within 12 yards of the line of scrimmage, it sets up defenses to shrink their zone coverage, further congesting the passing areas.

And the potential catalyst behind all the struggles in the passing game resides along the offensive line, as they’ve allowed 53 pressures on 135 passing plays, the second-worst allowance in the NFL.

The Lions run more “base” defense than any team in the NFL. Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard—a former NFL linebacker—prefers to keep three linebackers on the field as much as possible. The positional flexibility of Derrick Barnes affords Sheppard the opportunity to confuse offenses with a repeated pre-snap look that shifts into a variety of coverage post-snap, something he talked about on Thursday:

“So when you’re able to have a player like that, you see them out in the apex in 11-personnel, which is really a nickel spot. So when you have a player like that, it allows you that ability to present the same looks pre-snap and then post-snap be able to play a different variety of coverages, different variety of pressure packages and things like that.”

Through three games, the Lions have registered 11 sacks (tied with Cleveland for third-most in the NFL), a 10.8% sack rate (second in the NFL, behind only the Browns), and a 38.2% pressure rate (ninth in the NFL). With the flexibility Barnes gives Sheppard, we’ve seen the Lions blitz at a 39.2% rate (fourth most), with a 40% pressure rate when blitzing.

Flacco’s offensive line has not handled the blitz very well, and his production has suffered. According to Next Gen Stats, “Flacco has produced the 2nd-lowest yards per attempt (3.0) and the 5th-lowest completion percentage over expected (-12.8%) when facing the blitz this season.”

Key 6: Don’t let the rookies heat up

While the Browns’ passing attack has left Cleveland wanting more, their rushing attack is beginning to heat up, and you can see a glimmer of hope via their rookie running backs.

In Week 1, the Browns only rushed for 49 yards, led by rookie Dylan Sampson. In Week 2, fellow rookie Quinshon Judkins finally got involved (he sat out training camp after an off-field incident that led to a contract dispute), and he rushed the ball 10 times for 61 yards, accounting for over half the team’s 115 yards against the Ravens. In Week 3, Judkins got the start and rushed 18 times for 94 yards on the day, with Sampson registering two yards on his only attempt.

Judkins is having a terrific start to his NFL career and will warrant the Lions’ full attention. On 28 carries, Judkins is averaging 5.5 yards per carry (seventh most in the NFL), including 4.3 yards after contact (sixth most), and a +2.4 Rush EPA (eighth best).

The Lions’ defense has done a solid job defending the run in 2025. While their raw stats show them as an average run defense—11th in rushing yards allowed per game, 17th in rush yards allowed per play—the advanced metrics love the Lions’ performance. Currently, their run defense checks in as the fifth-best in DVOA, with an EPA per rush defended of -0.29, the best in the NFL.

With as porous as the Browns’ passing attack has been, the Lions defense shouldn’t have to be world beaters against the run this week. If Detroit can stick to their averages and keep Cleveland’s rookies from exceeding their averages, the Lions should stay in control of this game.