Detroit Lions 2014 Mid-Season Report Card: Offense
Is it halfway already?
The Detroit Lions find themselves with an overall record of 6-2 following two strait come from behind wins in weeks 7 and 8. That record is good enough for first place in the NFC North.
- Detroit Lions 6-2
- Green Bay Packers 5-3
- Minnesota Vikings 3-5
- Chicago Bears 3-5
Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Lions have managed two division wins thus far, one over Green Bay at home and the other over Minnesota on the road. Their two losses were also winnable games. In week three they lost to the Carolina Panthers after an onslaught of missed field goals and one too many turnovers. In week five they lost at home to a Kyle Orton/Jim Schwartz lead Buffalo Bills team after the offense stalled out before in rightfully got going.
So what do you make of this team so far, particularly the offense?
Here is where they rank amongst the rest of the league according to NFL.com:
Team Statistics Lions Opponents
| Total First Downs | 153 | 148 |
| 1st Downs (Rush-Pass-By Penalty) | 34 – 103 – 16 | 34 – 92 – 22 |
| 3rd Down Conversions | 50/117 | 32/100 |
| 4th Down Conversions | 2/4 | 3/7 |
| Total Offensive Yds | 2710 | 2323 |
| Offense (Plays-Avg Yds) | 531 – 5.1 | 484 – 4.8 |
| Total Rushing Yds | 637 | 592 |
| Rushing (Plays-Avg Yards) | 208 – 3.1 | 182 – 3.3 |
| Total Passing Yds | 2073 | 1731 |
| Passing (Comp-Att-Int-Avg) | 183 – 299 – 7 – 7.4 | 174 – 279 – 9 – 6.7 |
| Sacks | 23 | 24 |
| Field Goals | 9/19 | 11/12 |
| Touchdowns | 19 | 13 |
| (Rush-Pass-Ret-Def) | 6 – 11 – 0 – 2 | 4 – 9 – 0 – 0 |
| Time of Possession | 32:53 | 27:06 |
| Turnover Ratio | +1 |
You may say, “that doesn’t look so bad”, but those numbers are deceiving to the untrained eye. In fact, if anything they show the true strength of our defense.
We’ll dive into the Detroit Lions offense, looking through their struggles, the successes, and where they need to improve in the second half of the season.
Shall we?