Two insane stats for the Lions defense that will blow your mind, one extremely good and one that's a bit worrisome
On Tuesday night I, like the rest of America, was doing the stressful thing where you watch the numbers on the TV and see who's going to be president. I was getting tired of looking at the numbers so I went to Twitter to have Lions fans help me be distracted by asking me questions. […]
On Tuesday night I, like the rest of America, was doing the stressful thing where you watch the numbers on the TV and see who's going to be president. I was getting tired of looking at the numbers so I went to Twitter to have Lions fans help me be distracted by asking me questions. I got this one and then I started looking at different numbers and found two stats that really stand out.
Now, much like you, I've known that the Lions have been performing really well in the red zone this year and it's been a big part of why they keep winning. What I didn't know was just how good they've been.
The Lions are allowing touchdowns in the red zone just 43% of the time this year. That's the fourth lowest in the league right now. Only the Bears, Chargers and Steelers are better.
If we want to look even closer and maybe see how the Lions have done in a smaller sample size like the last three weeks, then you'll see the Lions have been even better during that time. They're allowing touchdowns just 37.5% of the time.
Ok, those are both pretty good, but are you ready for the mind blowing stuff? Ok, let's get into it. The Lions have played eight games this year and half of them have been on the road against some pretty good teams.
They're allowing touchdowns in the red zone just 25% of the time on the road. That is insane. To dig a little deeper into it, the Lions have allowed just eight red zone trips on the road. That's an even bigger good sign for the Lions if you ask me.
They have allowed two touchdowns in the red zone during that time. One last Sunday to the Packers in garbage time and one to the Cardinals in the first quarter of their Week 3 matchup.
Other than that the Lions are keeping teams out of the red zone or just not allowing them to score when they get there. The Lions offense is amazing, but stuff like this is what's keeping Detroit in the spot they're in. Aaron Glenn has really done some good work with this defense in 2024.
Explosive plays allowed
This is were there's a bit of worry, but not a ton. The Lions have gotten worse at allowing explosive plays since last year. In 2023 the Lions had allowed 32 explosive plays from Week 1 to Week 9. The pass defense shouldered 25 of those and while the run defense only gave up 7.
This year the Lions are at 44 explosive plays allowed. 25 again through the air, but now 19 on the ground. The spot where they're supposed to be the best in the league. 11 of those have come in the last three weeks too.
It's worrisome, but the reason it's not ultra concerning is becasue the Lions lost their top defensive lineman and then dealt with a bunch more defensive lineman injuries after that. With Za'Darius Smith in Detroit now and Josh Paschall expected to come back, that number could drop. It's one to pay attention to for sure.
The pass game one is what it is, but at the end of the day the Lions have only given up six passing touchdowns. This time last year they had given up 11.
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