Statistical Comparison Between John Morton, Lions OC Drew Petzing

The Detroit Lions have a new face leading their offense in former Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing.

Detroit made the hire of Petzing official earlier this week, cementing him as the leader of the offensive unit alongside head coach Dan Campbell. The Lions also added former New York Giants offensive coordinator and interim head coach Mike Kafka to the mix in a high ranking role.

With Petzing, the Lions are hoping to have a more consistent attack than last season. Though the team ranked highly in several metrics, there were some underlying issues with third-down conversions and overall consistency.

Below is a statistical comparison between Morton's one year leading the Lions and Petzing's last three leading the Cardinals. Rankings for Petzing's metrics are amongst the league over his three-year tenure, while Morton's rankings are relative to only the 2025 season.

Points scored

Morton: 28.3 (4th). Petzing: 21.3 (22nd).

Passing yards

Morton: 253.1 (3rd) Petzing: 228.3 (18th)

Rushing yards

Morton: 120.1 (14th) Petzing: 125.5 (9th)

Third down conversion rate

Morton: 38.8 (20th) Petzing: 41.3% (12th)

Total yards per game

Morton: 373.2 (5th) Petzing: 353.8 (13th)

Other notes

The Cardinals had success to varying degrees under Petzing's tenure. Injuries played a big part in what was a difficult 2025 season, as the offense finished 23rd in scoring and 19th in total yards. Starter Kyler Murray played just five games, while Jacoby Brissett started the other 12.

Arizona's run game was also sapped by injuries in 2025, as James Connor, Trey Benson and Bam Knight all suffered season-ending injuries. The run game finished 32nd in attempts and 31st in yards this season.

This production can be contrasted with the previous two years, where Connor paced the group with back-to-back 1,000-plus yard seasons and the team finished top-10 in the run game.

Petzing's history against Detroit

As the coordinator of the Cardinals, Petzing coached just one game against the Lions. This showdown came in Week 3 of the 2024 season. Detroit emerged victorious in that game, winning 20-13 in a tightly contested matchup.

In that game, Arizona outgained the Lions in the passing game with Kyler Murray throwing for 207 yards and two touchdowns, while Jared Goff threw for 199 yards, two scores. Both passers threw interceptions.

Arizona utilized some designed runs for Murray that kept Detroit's defense off balance, as the quarterback ran five times for 45 yards. However, the Cardinals weren't able to get James Connor going as he was held to 17 rushing yards on nine carries.