Jim Bob Cooter offered a four-word assessment of his play-calling in last week's loss to the New York Giants.
"Should have been better," Cooter said.
But while no one was happy with a gameplan that yielded zero offensive touchdowns for the second time this year, the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator defended his decision to stick with the struggling running game as long as he did.
The Lions ran for 56 yards on 19 carries against the Giants, an average of 2.9 yards per rush, and ran the ball six straight times on first down to open the game.
"I think it's important you don't get into the mode of, 'Here we go guys, the next quarter and a half is all passes,' " Cooter said. "I think defenses have the ability to make that extremely difficult on you. Sometimes it is frustrating when maybe the average isn't what you would like it to be and you're staring at a fourth quarter, or maybe a quarter and a half of calling runs that have not yet been successful in the game. But I do think it's important that you don't abandon that thing, you keep hammering at it a little bit. Sometimes those things start going."
Two weeks ago, the Lions ran for 27 yards on nine first-half carries before gaining 87 yards rushing in the second half. Rookie running back Dwayne Washington had a career-high 64 yards in that game, and the Lions' 114 yards total was their third-best rushing output of the year.
"Had I abandoned the run at halftime of that game, I think that game may have turned out differently," Cooter said. "We wouldn't have been happy with the results."
On Monday, the Lions (9-5) face a Dallas Cowboys team that leads the NFL in rushing defense at 80.9 yards per game. Though starting running back Theo Riddick is expected to miss his third straight week with a wrist injury, Cooter said it's imperative the Lions find some success on the ground.
"We're striving for balance," Cooter said. "That's the ultimate goal. Well, the ultimate goal is winning the game. But balance I think helps you on your way there."
