The Detroit Lions 2014 campaign ended in disappointment. Yes the Lions went 11-5 however winning the Super Bowl is all that matters and the Lions haven’t played in a Super Bowl for 49 years, so what will make them the pentacle of the NFL?
1. Find a way to keep Ndamukong Suh:
Is there any doubt that Ndamukong Suh is the most dominant player at his position in the NFL? Suh is a big part of the Lions defense, not the biggest part however. Suh commands double teams and helped the Lions to their best defensive ranking since 1983.
Suh had 46 tackles and 8.5 sacks, Suh’s presence was known on the defensive line as T.J Lang said “Playing Suh you better expect anything and everything because he holds nothing back”
Detroit Lions
2. Fix the Offensive line:
There was nothing more disappointing than the Lions offense this year, Offensive line was the main problem between Dominic Raiola and Rob Sims regressing badly to the Lions constant injuries they were handcuffed. Lions will likely need to grab a RT and LG this off-season and move Travis Swanson to Center, how bad was the Lions offensive line?
The Lions offense allowed 45 sacks, 4th most in the NFL. It’s the first time since 2000 a team made the playoffs being in top 5 in sacks. Matthew Stafford was allowed no time in the pocket as the Lions had the lowest amount of time allowed in the pocket with 2.7 seconds. Stafford and the run game suffered badly because of the offensive line.
3. 2014 Rookies, non existent:
The 2014 draft class was so bad in year one, only one had a legit impact and that was Swanson. Eric Ebron struggled early in the season, but I look for a bounce back Kyle Van Noy came 8 weeks into the season after core surgery and didn’t look like himself.
Erbon Stats: 25 receptions, 248 yards and one touchdown.
Van Noy Stats: 6 tackles
Swanson Stats: N/A
4. Reggie Bush:
Is it time to give up on Reggie Bush? Yes, Bush was awful in 2014 as he ran for 297 yards and 2 touchdowns in 11 games. Bush wasn’t good, and was constantly injured. Lions have no other choice, but to cut ties with Bush and look for replacements which might likely happen as he is a possible “Cap Causality.”
Bush’s salary next year is a 5.7M Dollar cap hit, if cut Lions would have 1.7 in dead cap space per Sportrac.
5. Matt Stafford woes:
Stafford had a very average in 2014, however he wasn’t helped out the Lions rushing attack ranked 28 and the Lions offense ranked 22nd has a unit. Stafford was part of a very average Lions offense and Stafford could never regain himself to 2011 form and basically Stafford was the third best quarterback in the North.
Stafford has to regain his 2011 form and obviously we should take into account his O-Line did him, no help. Stafford faces underwhelming pressure heading into 2015.
Stafford Stats:
Completions: 363
Attempts: 602
Completion Pct: 60.3% (25th in NFL)
Touchdowns: 22 (14th in NFL)
Interceptions: 12 (13th in NFL)
QB Rating: 85.7 (21st in NFL)
Sacks: 45 (4th in NFL)