John Morton spent a season in the Canadian Football League as a player, and the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator wants to bring a little bit of that league to his team’s game against the Los Angeles Rams this week.
“I call it CFL football,” Morton said. “It’s first [down], second [down], first [down], second [down], first [down], second [down]. We didn’t have a lot of third downs [last week], so that’s the way we got to play.”
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The Lions matched a season-low with eight third downs in last week’s win over the Dallas Cowboys, converting three of those attempts and striking for several big plays.
Detroit Lions offensive coordinator John Morton watches warmup ahead of the New York Giants game at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025.
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Against the Cowboys, the Lions scored on touchdown drives of two, three, four, five and six plays and had six gains of 25 or more yards.
Morton said Sunday’s game might feature fewer explosive plays.
“Might be a boring game, might be a dink-and-dunk game,” he said.
But playing a Rams team that ranks third in the NFL in total defense, he said the Lions have to treat early downs like they’re in the three-down CFL and do their best to stay ahead of the chains.
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“We got to attack,” Morton said. “We got to attack them, just like we have been doing all year. We’ve got great players, I’ve been saying it all year, guys have stepped up and so we’ll attack. That’s what we’re going to do, run and pass we’re going to get after them. That’s what we need to do. We need to score points.”
Credit to T.K.
Tom Kennedy averaged 40 yards on three kick returns last week and gave the Lions enough spark on special teams that coordinator Dave Fipp said Kennedy will remain in the return mix going forward.
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“I can’t tell you how ecstatic I am for Tom Kennedy,” Fipp said. “I mean there’s nobody who deserves the attention and the recognition more than him in this building. I mean a guy who’s just worked his tail off every single day the whole time he’s been here. Never ever complained about the reps he’s getting, the opportunity he’s getting. Whether he knows he can do something better than maybe some other guy who’s getting his shot before him. And then for him to get the opportunity and then go out there and make the most of it, you’ve got to give him a lot of credit.”
Detroit Lions kick returner Tom Kennedy (85) runs against Dallas Cowboys during the second half at Ford Field in Detroit on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025.
Kennedy has been with the Lions in some capactiy since signing with the team in 2019 as an undrafted free agent.
He has spent most of his seven NFL seasons on the Lions’ practice squad, but caught four passes in the team’s Thanksgiving loss to the Green Bay Packers and has 30 receptions and one passing touchdown in his career.
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“When it comes out like it did for him on that game, it’s just incredible to watch,” Fipp said. “The power of the human spirit, a guy who wants to go make a play and just decides he’s not going to let this opportunity pass him by, you just can’t measure it. And sometimes a man is probably sitting there waiting for three years or whatever it is – four years – watching other people get turns and that just builds inside of somebody and he gets the chance and he just lets it rip. So, it was awesome.”
Combat boots
Detroit Lions linebacker Jack Campbell (46) and cornerback Amik Robertson (21) force Dallas Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson (87) to fumble during the first half at Ford Field in Detroit on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025.
Matthew Stafford has been one of the most ball-secure quarterbacks in the NFL this season.
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Stafford set an NFL record by throwing 28 straight touchdowns without a pick earlier this year and has just seven turnovers – four interceptions, three lost fumbles – in his 13 starts.
Three of Stafford’s turnovers came in the Rams’ only loss since early October, two weeks ago against the Carolina Panthers, but Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said he’s not in the business of “chasing … a good performance against him.”
“We’re not going to take that exact gameplan, try to implement it,” Sheppard said. “But I think turnovers come down to, for the most part it’s will and want to and violently and aggressively attacking the football.”
The Lions are tied for sixth in the NFL in turnover margin (plus-8) this year and had three takeaways against the Cowboys. Before last week, they had two takeaways in their previous five games combined.
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The Rams are third in the NFL with a plus-10 turnover margin and tied for fifth with 21 takeaways.
“I’m still a fan of football, so I do watch some of these games and we got to combat not only what they do offensively as protecting the ball but they do a pretty good job defensively as far as generating takeaways,” Sheppard said. “They have a Jack Campbell in they own right over there that punches at the ball a lot in their middle linebacker [Nate Landman], so just understanding, we’re not just combating their offense but also the way their defense plays and try to generate takeaways.”
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions plan vs Rams features ‘CFL football’