Why Lions OC Ben Johnson is not worried about ‘wasting’ trick plays vs. Cowboys

From the outside looking in, it certainly seemed like the Detroit Lions emptied the bag when it comes to their offensive trick play calls against the Dallas Cowboys last week. Still clearly a little perturbed from the result of last year's Dallas game—when a go-ahead trick play to Taylor Decker was nullified by a wrongful penalty—the Lions had a handful of sneaky plays they unleashed against the Cowboys. There was a reverse flea flicker, a lateral to offensive tackle Penei Sewell, a pass to Decker, and several plays in which both Decker and jumbo package tackle Dan Skipper reported as eligible—a clear reference to that ill-fated play from last year.

A small minority of fans and analysts wondered if the Lions went a little overboard against the Cowboys. The lateral to Sewell happened with the Lions already up 37-9 in the waning seconds of the third quarter. Why burn a trick play like that—sometimes years in the making—when the game was already in hand?

Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson didn't quite see it like that. While he admits he doesn't like the run the same plays twice, they're only going to run the plays if it's the right situation and they get the right look.

"We do have some elements of that where we have to get the right look," Johnson said. "We're not just calling plays to call plays because we think they look cool. It's really by design and intent and then our guys carry it the rest of the way."

As for the concern that Detroit is going to be out of trick plays or they've utilized their best ones, it's clear Johnson believes they'll be just fine in that regard.

"I'm not worried about putting things on tape. If anything else, it's just going to help set up the next thing down the road," Johnson said. "And yeah, the well is deep in terms of the thoughts."

In other words, if you think the Lions unloaded the clip against Dallas, you have severely underestimated the volume of Johnson's bag of tricks.