Getty Colby Parkinson stiff-arms Malcolm Rodriguez in 2022.
The Detroit Lions are truly a franchise like no other in the NFL. Things not seen in decades or years routinely happen to them, and 2022 has simply brought another wild anomaly to the team.
While the Lions have improved on offense and are scoring at a clip not seen elsewhere in the NFL, the team’s defense is also getting gashed horribly. In fact, the offense and defense are scoring and allowing right around the same amount of points.
Detroit’s start to the season has been horrible, and has made history. Through the first four games, no team has ever given up as many points as the Lions have on the field, something NFL Research pointed out.
“The Lions have averaged 35.0 PPG & allowed 35.3 PPG this season. Detroit’s 281 combined points + points allowed are the most by any team in the first 4 games of a season in NFL history,” the site tweeted.
For years, Detroit’s offense struggled, so it only makes sense that once the team shows signs of being a juggernaut on that side of the ball, their defense completely falls apart. That’s what it means to be a team that is fighting a possible curse.
If fans casually watching the games felt as if the Lions had the NFL’s best offense yet the worst defense, that’s exactly what’s playing out for the team so far this year. Par for the course in what’s been a wild season.
Lions Defense Played Miserable in Week 4
In terms of the most recent loss, it was a terrible one for the Lions on defense. The team allowed an ugly 48 points, and Seattle didn’t punt once in the game. Statistically, it was one of the worst games the Lions have played in some time.
Detroit allowed 555 yards in the game, including 320 passing yards and 235 rushing yards. They were gashed to the tune of five total touchdowns including two from Rashaad Penny on the ground. Detroit generated no sacks, gave up nine first down conversions and was unable to generate any takeaways minus an early fumble recovery on a muffed punt.
Easily, this game will prove to be hard to overcome for the Lions statistically the rest of the year. The team will have to work hard to pull themselves out of the hole that these dismal stats have created.
Following the most frustrating show from the defense in a long time, Dan Campbell is rallying around Aaron Glenn and promising a deep dive on why his defense is struggling so badly. The team will need more than that to correct their latest mess.
Lions Defense Has Awful 2022 Stats
Currently, the Lions have offered little resistance on the back end or up front. The team has some awful statistics in terms of defense to start the year in spite of an average 1-3 start
Detroit sits 30th in pass defense through four weeks of the season, allowing 279.3 yards per-game on average. They have also allowed seven touchdowns this year, and have a long catch allowed of 54 total yards. The Lions are also ranked 30th in rush defense so far this season, allowing 165.5 yards per-game and an awful 10 touchdowns.
As a whole, the Lions have given up 448 yards per-game and sit 32nd in total defense after allowing 1,779 total yards so far, good for dead last in the league.
Naturally, these numbers are more than a bit alarming early on for the Lions. They did play one of the NFL’s best offenses in Week 1 and were pitching a shutout until letting up a big in the second-half of Week 2 and Week 3. Week 4, they offered no resistance. As a result, there’s a lot of numbers to be concerned about, pointing to a need for a turnaround.
Somehow, the Lions have to find a way to be average to bad on defense instead of historically horrible. If they find a way to do that, they might be able to turn around their season.
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Lions Miserable Defense, Electric Offense Makes Amazing NFL History