The Detroit Lions are excelling at the three most important statistics on both sides of the football.
There are a number of stats that decide the difference between winning and losing on any given Sunday in the NFL, but the most consistent are turnovers, third-down efficiency and performance in the red zone.
Looking at the numbers heading into Detroit's monster Week 9 matchup in Green Bay (6-2) with first place in the NFC North on the line, it's easy to see why the Lions are playing so well and are considered one of the best teams in the NFL right now. Detroit ranks in the Top 10 both offensively and defensively in those three key metrics.
Offensively, they have turned the ball over just five times in seven games, which is tied for the fourth fewest in the league. They rank seventh in third-down percentage (42.9) and seventh in red-zone efficiency (65.5). Detroit doesn't turn the ball over much, they keep drives alive on third down and when they get into the red zone, they punch it into the end zone more often than settling for field goals. That's good offensive football.
The Lions would likely be 7-0 right now had they not been 1-for-7 in the red zone and turned the ball over twice in their lone loss to Tampa Bay (20-16) Week 2.
Add in quarterback Jared Goff, who has been playing at an MVP level the first two months of the season, and the multitude of weapons on that side of the football, and it's easy to see why the Lions are the No. 1 scoring team in the NFL (33.4 ppg).
"Yeah, we've done a good job of emphasizing and working it," Lions head coach Dan Campbell said. "We're constantly coaching it up. Those are things we look at the next day in practice, we talk about, and you have to make an emphasis, and you have to have an urgency about yourself doing it and showing it."
Defensively, Detroit's 15 takeaways are second only to Green Bay's 19. The Lions have the No. 1 third-down defense in football (30.7) and are No. 9 in red-zone efficiency (47.4). The defense has been terrific at generating turnovers, getting off the field on third down and then forcing field goals instead of touchdowns in the red zone at an elite level.
"Coach AG stresses a lot that you have to win situationally," passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend said. "That's one of those situations that we have to be good at to win the game – red zone, third down, two-minute situations we have to be at our best."
Throw in a special teams unit that is tops in the NFL in punting, perfect in field goal kicking and No. 3 in punt return and No. 1 in kickoff return average, and the Lions are playing some of the best complementary football in the NFL, which why they are 6-1 and the top team in the NFC heading into Week 9.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Lions wide receiver Kalif Raymond was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after recording 190 punt return yards, including a 90-yard touchdown, in Detroit's win over Tennessee last week.
Detroit's had three different players win a Special Teams Player of the Week Award this year – punter Jack Fox (Week 4), kicker Jake Bates (Week 7) and Raymond (Week 8). The only other time they've done so was in 1993.
It's the fifth week in a row a Lions player has won Player of the Week honors. Goff won Offensive Player of the Week in Week 4 and safety Brian Branch won Defensive Player of the Week in Week 6.
MAHOGANY ACTIVATED
Detroit activated offensive lineman Christian Mahogany from Reserve/Non-Football Illness on Tuesday. Mahogany, a sixth-round pick in this year's NFL Draft, missed all of training camp with an illness but has been practicing over the last three weeks. His 21-day practice window was up this week, and the team had to decide to either activate him or send him to IR for the rest of the year.
Campbell said last week Mahogany has been good in practice and they wanted to continue to work with the rookie throughout the course of the year.
ZYLSTRA CONTRIBUTIONS
Over the last couple weeks, the Lions have elevated tight end Shane Zylstra from the practice squad and have played him over the inactive Parker Hesse, who began the season in the tight end rotation.
"I would say the biggest reason is because Zylstra has really improved over the last – call it month, three or four weeks," Campbell said. "He was hard to ignore in practice, we felt like he's a pretty good athlete and every week he was giving our defense fits on the scout team.
"I told him the week before we elevated him, I said, 'I see you and you're getting better and better and better.' The run game and pass game, and so we felt like it's time to give him another opportunity and he's been good for us."
EXTRA POINT
The Lions opened the 21-day practice window for defensive tackle Brodric Martin (Reserve/Injured) on Wednesday.
