‘Shocking Stat’ Shows Ugly Number Lions Must Improve Most for 2022

Tracy Walker A.J. Dillon

Getty Tracy Walker lunges to hit A.J. Dillon in a 2022 game.

The Detroit Lions struggled across the board in 2021, and if the team is going to take some steps forward, there’s going to have to be lots of improvements on the field.

Specifically, it can be hard to nail down a single area where the Lions need to see change this year, but an in-depth look at a particular stat shows that it could be quite simple for the team on both sides of the ball.

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Interestingly enough, a new piece from ESPN by way of Football Outsiders and Aaron Schatz points to a specific problem. The piece looked at shocking stats for every team, and their selection for Detroit involved some galling missed tackles on defense.

As Schatz wrote, “the Detroit defense had 159 missed tackles in 2021, 17 more than any other defense. Alex Anzalone led the NFL with 23, while four other Lions had double-digit misses. (Tracy Walker with 14, Charles Harris with 11 and AJ Parker and Jalen Reeves-Maybin with 10 apiece).”

Those are glaring numbers for the Lions, and the team is going to have to find a way to attack the ball better. The good news? Aaron Glenn has made that a point of emphasis, so a change could be coming.

As camp begins, this represents a good starting point for the team to hone in on.


Lions Need More Broken Tackles on Offense, Too

Not only did the Lions’ defense struggle tackling the opposition, but Detroit’s offense also had problems breaking away from the defenses they faced. Ironically enough, the analysis made mention of this oddity.

As Schatz pointed out in his analysis, the team was “average in broken tackles” on offense last season, That follows a pattern where the team was “near the bottom of the league” with regards to the statistic in 2019 and 2020. Obviously, this shows a need for more explosive plays, specifically out of skill positions like wide receivers and running backs.

Rookie wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown was one of the most consistent NFL rookies last year, but he cannot do it alone. The Lions offense needs to find a way to net themselves some chunk plays if they want to create more of the explosion they desire.


Lions Struggled on Defense During 2021

Many have proclaimed the Lions defense will struggle again in 2022, and the stats across the board from last year help show why it is never wrong for an analyst to believe this.

Detroit had a dreadful season in 2021, ranking 24th in passing defense giving up 244 yards per-game as well as 28th against the run, allowing 135 yards per-game. The team placed 29th in total defense. Combined with an inability to generate sacks (30) as well as interceptions (11), the Lions struggled. It was merely a culmination of years of problems, though. In 2019, Detroit placed 31st in total defense, and 32nd in 2020.

With this in mind, it isn’t a surprise to hear the team struggled with fundamentals like tackling. An improvement there and many of those numbers can seemingly trend in a better direction.

Finding fixes can take time, and the Lions showed a few strides last year in spite of their problems. If the team wants to make more strides, they might simply have to start by wrapping people up.

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