After a truly forgettable four-year period, with just as many last places in the NFC North, the Detroit Lions achieved a positive record in 2022, then last year they really came close to the Super Bowl. In this 2024, the team coached by coach Campbell has, with four victories and one defeat, the second record not only in the NFC North but in the entire NFC, even if, the terrible injury to the very strong defender Hutchinson in the recent, sensational victory in that Dallas risks upsetting the plans of the Motown Lions
OFFENSE
First for average points scored and third for average yards gained per game: these are the impressive numbers of coach Ben Johnson’s department (a little statistical pill: the last time the Lions closed the regular season with the best attack in the championship in terms of points was in 1958).
After five games, Jared Goff has the best field goal percentage of his career (71.1), aided by his incredible 18-for-18 shooting against Seattle in late September. The main flaw so far for the former California director is the four interceptions, quite a few in five games. As in the last four years, the Lions’ leading receiver is Amon-Ra St.Brown with 31 receptions but the news is that it’s not him the leader in yards but Jameson Williamswho after having almost entirely missed his first year as a professional following the rupture of the knee ligament suffered in January 2022 during the NCAA final, and having received just 24 balls in the whole of 2023, in the current season has already reached 16 receptions for 365 yards, at the sensational average of 22.8 yards per catch (second in the NFL behind Indianapolis’ Pierce).
The other two receivers used with a certain continuity are the experts Khalif Raymond and Tim Patrick, with the latter being a pleasant surprise because before receiving the oval from Goff on September 15th against Tampa Bay, he had remained without taking the field for more than two and a half years, given that due first to the rupture of a knee ligament and then to the rupture of the Achilles tendon in his left foot, he had not played a match since January 8, 2022.
In the Lions’ aerial game Runners also play an important partgiven that both David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs are dangerous ends out of the backfield and have already brought home 24 receptions so far (even the former has a sensational 100% in terms of catching balls thrown in his direction). Who instead he seems a little lost in this overflowing start of the attack in blue it is the Y Receiver
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Ma l’efficacia dell’attacco dei Lions non è certamente limitata al gioco aereo: la coppia di runner Montgomery-Gibbs ha già corso per quasi 700 yards e 9 Touchdown
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La linea offensiva dei Lions è, secondo molti, la più forte dell’intera NFL. Il centro è Frank Ragnow, prima scelta di Detroit nel 2018, che sta avendo una stagione buona ma un pochino al di sotto dei suoi standard soprattutto nella protezione di Goff. Guardia a destra è il veteranissimo Kevin Zeitler, che fece il suo ingresso in NFL addirittura nel 2012 con i Bengals. Dopo essere stato anche a Cleveland, New York sponda Giants e Baltimora, a trentasei anni suonati Zeitler sta giocando quest’anno in maniera davvero solida. Guardia a sinistra è invece Graham Glasgow, che fu scelto da Detroit nel 2016 poi, dopo quattro stagioni con i Lions, è approdato a Denver dove è stato per tre campionati per poi tornare nel 2023 nella Motor City, anche se, anche lui come Ragnow sta giocando un po’ con alti e bassi nella Pass protection
