Pride of Detroit
I’m going to get a bold prediction right this season, I promise you that. Despite their stats, I believed the Detroit Lions’ offense would find better success against the Cleveland Browns’ defense last week. It was a valiant effort, but the Lions won the game in the end, and that’s all that matters.
This week, the Lions play the Cincinnati Bengals on the road in what could be a bloodbath of a game. The Bengals enter 2-2, and before the season, this game was a 50/50 matchup, but now it’s heavily favoring the Lions. Cincinnati is down its franchise quarterback, Joe Burrow, and its running game is nonexistent with running back Chase Brown. Their defense has had to step up to try and win them games, and so far, they haven’t done much to show they can carry the team far.
With a team that appears to be already giving up based on their body language, the Bengals are in must-win mode every week. Their challenge in the Lions this week will be their toughest yet, and I think the Lions have a chance to set a franchise record.
When I was thinking of ideas for bold predictions, I figured the most points scored by the Lions would have been much higher, especially with how explosive they were last season. They set multiple records against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but they still didn’t put up the most points ever in a game. What are the most points in a game, and when was it? 55 points against the Chicago Bears back in 1997.
Does 55 points seem low for anybody else? 14 of the 32 teams have scored 60 points in their history, and to see the Lions not outdo a performance from their 90s team is surprising. This team has better weapons and coaching than the ’97 team, so not to outdo them is shocking. Under head coach Dan Campbell, the Lions have scored 50+ points three times, twice last season and once this year, all 52 points scored.
While the Bengals will be arguably the easiest team the Lions will have played this season, stat-wise, the Bengals are mostly struggling on offense, which impacts how the defense plays. According to PFF, the Bengals have the lowest run blocking grade (35) and running grade (53.1), and when you have a backup quarterback struggling like Jake Browning is, the offense has a true uphill battle. The past two weeks, the Bengals have had less than 175 yards of offense each game, and against the Denver Broncos, they had just two seconds over 22 minutes of time of possession, while the Broncos had the ball just under 38 minutes.
When the offense can’t move the chains or score, the defense gets tired being on the field for so long and so often. Per TeamRankings.com, the Lions average 31 minutes and 49 seconds in time of possession, sixth most...
