Pride of Detroit
The Lions’ debut was a dud. That and more in this week’s look at key stats from @Ryan_POD.
In Thursday’s Hall of Fame game, marking the return of the NFL to screens and streaming devices alike, the Detroit Lions lost to the Los Angeles Chargers, 34-7.
As we’ll do every week throughout the season for this Detroit Lions team, we have some data we can comb through courtesy of various outlets that better help us understand the football the Lions have played thus far—and what to look forward to in the coming weeks. Let’s take a closer look at the Lions by the numbers after their preseason loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
PFF’s premium statistics are an invaluable data point for football fans to better understand the game. Consider subscribing to PFF to have full access to a plethora of stats and grades to keep you informed about the NFL—and college football, too. Also, NFL Pro is supplying some innovative and illustrative advanced statistics of their own that are worth checking out for the price of admission.
In a game that felt entirely sloppy from literally start to finish, the Lions performance was largely defined by their inability to protect the football. Grant Stuard’s return on the opening kickoff, Kyle Allen’s bad throws, Jakobie Keeney-James’ muffed punt, and Hendon Hooker’s final toss (and really Dominic Lovett’s giveaway) acted as markers throughout the game for Detroit’s “one step forward, two steps back” approach to their preseason debut.
With so much turnover and reshuffling along the offensive line this offseason, it was going to be something worth keeping an eye on during the team’s preseason action. Detroit’s starting five seem to be set, but there’s room for virtually every player beyond those starters to stake their claim to the 53-man roster.
Thursday’s contest against the Chargers will hopefully serve as an opportunity for those depth players to go back to the drawing board after they allowed a quarterback pressure on one third of dropbacks. Jamarco Jones (2), Mason Miller (1), Michael Niese (1), Dan Skipper (1), Giovanni Manu (1), Colby Sorsdal (1), Kingsley Eguakun (1), and Netane Muti (1) were charged by PFF with allowing pressures in the preseason opener.
The Lions are certainly equipped with plenty of weapons on offense, including one of the best wide receiver duos in the NFL, but here comes Isaac TeSlaa.
In what amounted to a rather disappointing night for the Lions across the board, TeSlaa was one of the few bright spots—and he proved to be so in a variety of ways. There was this rep from him on special teams as a gunner to showcase how he’ll immediately have an impact at the NFL level. His 2.88 yards per route run across 16 passing snaps was especially explosive and efficient—only two NFL players posted higher marks for yards per route run last season: Puka Nacua (3.56) and A.J. Brown (2.99). A 79.4...
