ALLEN PARK, Mich.(AP) -- Jim Schwartz doesn't want his Detroit
Lions to play an overly conservative offense.
Without Calvin Johnson, he doesn't think he has much of a
choice.
Even with a bye week to prepare and the return of rookie
quarterback Matt Stafford, the Lions (1-6) couldn't move the
ball consistently against the hapless St. Louis Rams on Sunday,
losing 17-10 to a team that hadn't won a game in over a year.
Schwartz doesn't think that Johnson is Detroit's only offensive
weapon, but acknowledges that his presence is needed for his
other players to get the space they require.
"Calvin affects the coverages we see and everything that teams
do against us, because they always have to account for him,"
Schwartz said Monday. "That's true of every great player. For
Minnesota, Adrian Peterson is a great running back that opens up
the passing game because teams have to focus on him. Calvin does
that for us."
The Lions have scored only one touchdown in the two games
Johnson has missed with a knee injury. Against the Rams,
Stafford hit on just 14 of 33 passes for 168 yards, and didn't
complete a throw to a wide receiver until the fourth quarter.
Schwartz said the coaching staff counted six drops by Detroit
receivers, including five in the first half. The first - and
possibly most damaging - came on the Lions' opening drive, when
Bryant Johnson couldn't hold onto a long pass that would have
put Detroit into field-goal position.
"This is the first game where we have consistently had drops,"
Schwartz said. "Wide receivers are going to drop some balls - it
is unrealistic to think that they will catch every single pass -
but when you have a situation like we had where there are
consistent drops, there has to be some accountability."
Lions rookie tight end Brandon Pettigrew agreed.
"There were some drops and some that would have been tough
plays, but we've got to start making tough plays," he said. "The
drops are a matter of focus, but we have to do more than just
routine execution."
Schwartz has never been forthcoming about the status of injured
players, and that didn't change Monday. When asked if he
expected to have Johnson back for Sunday's trip to Seattle
(2-2), he said only that Johnson's return was "closer."
Along with Johnson's absence, Schwartz sees another factor
holding back Detroit's offense: the lack of big plays in the
running game.
"There's a difference between running the ball effectively and
explosively," he said. "We've made consistent yards, but we need
to break some longer runs - make a safety miss and go for 40
yards. That's really where our running game has been lacking."
Because of Kevin Smith's shoulder problems, he and Maurice
Morris split time in the backfield against the Rams, but
Schwartz said that isn't the plan going forward.
"Kevin is our workhorse running back, and he's going to get most
of the carries," he said. "We've always wanted to get Maurice
some work. That's the case everywhere. As great as Adrian
Peterson is, Chester Taylor gets a lot of carries. We don't see
this as a 50-50 split, but in this game, injuries kind of pushed
us to that."
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