Lions OC Drew Petzing on return to Arizona: 'Got to go out and beat them'

Drew Petzing, the Lions' first-year offensive coordinator, expressed his excitement for returning to his former team, the Arizona Cardinals, for their upcoming game on Sunday, October 11th. Despite the Cardinals making a significant impact on his career, Petzing emphasized that his focus is solely on the next game, stating, "To me, it's the next game that we need to win."

In his three seasons with Arizona, the Cardinals compiled a 15-36 record, but Petzing highlighted that the time spent in Arizona was invaluable to his development as a coach, working with prominent figures like Jonathan Gannon and Nick Rallis. Regarding the Lions' struggling running game, Petzing identified two key areas for improvement: explosiveness and consistency.

He stressed the importance of designing the run game effectively and creating big plays that can alter the course of a game. Meanwhile, defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard defended the team's blitzing strategy, claiming that the calls made were "the right calls," despite the Carolina Panthers' success against the blitz last week.