The Detroit Lions are coming off a big win Thursday night against the Dallas Cowboys that gave them their eighth win of the season and allowed them to keep pace in the NFC playoff picture. Detroit’s just one game out of the last playoff spot — currently held by Chicago (9-4) — with four games to play.
Detroit played complementary football, getting contributions from all three phases in Thursday’s win. They’ll need more of the same this week as they travel west to take on the NFC-West-leading Los Angeles Rams (10-3) on Sunday.
Here are five stats that stand out heading into a big Week 15 matchup against the Rams:
1. Number: 4
What it means: Running back Jahmyr Gibbs has had four games this season with at least 75 receiving yards.
Twentyman: Gibbs caught seven passes for 77 yards against Dallas and now has caught 58 passes for 474 yards and three touchdowns on the season. The Lions have been looking for another reliable weapon in the passing game since the team lost Pro Bowl tight end Sam LaPorta to a back injury Week 10 in Washington. The last four games the Lions have been without LaPorta, Gibbs has been targeted 31 times and has 26 receptions for 247 yards and a touchdown.
Gibbs had 52 receptions in each of his first two seasons in the league and has already surpassed those totals with four games to go. The Lions are finding ways to get one of their playmakers the ball in space and will need to continue to do so down the stretch.
2. Numbers: 29 & 19
What it means: Total number of quarterback pressures and hurries generated by the Lions’ defense against Dallas, per Pro Football Focus statistics.
Twentyman: Those pressures and hurries led to 5.0 sacks on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott as Detroit’s defense made him uncomfortable in the pocket all night. Detroit’s ability to pressure the quarterback has directly impacted wins and losses this season.
Consider this: In Detroit’s eight victories this season, they have averaged 16.8 quarterback hurries per contest with an average of 24.4 total pressures. In their five losses, those averages fall significantly to 9.8 hurries and 13.6 total pressures.
Aidan Hutchinson is going to bring it every week, and we saw that again last week with his nine total pressures, but it was good to see Al-Quadin Muhammad add five pressures and 3.0 sacks and Alim McNeill getting four pressures and a sack. It has to be a team effort affecting the quarterback for this defense down the stretch. When the Lions can marry their rush and coverage, they are a tough defense to play against.
3. Number: 141
What it means: Tom Kennedy’s all-purpose yards vs. Dallas.
Twentyman: The veteran wide receiver and returner produced three kickoff returns for 120 yards (40.0 avg.) and one punt return for 21 yards to total a career-high 141 all-purpose yards. His kickoff returns yielded gains of 40 yards, 38 yards and 42 yards, as he became the first Lions player to produce a game with 120-or-more kickoff return yards and 20-or-more punt return yards since Jeremy Ross in 2013.
Filling in for Kalif Raymond (ankle) the last couple weeks, Kennedy has been a spark on teams. It’s hard to imagine him losing kickoff return duties with how well he’s done there of late. A big play on special teams can be a huge spark, and the Lions should be looking for more of the same from Kennedy over their last four games.
4. Number: 47
What it means: The number of 20-plus yard pass plays allowed by Detroit’s defense, the second most in the NFL this season.
Twentyman: We talked about marrying the rush and the cover above and this statistic falls into those same lines. Only Cincinnati (49) has allowed more 20-plus-yard completions than the Lions this season. Of those 47 completions, nine have gone for touchdowns with only Chicago (11) allowing more.
This is an important statistic to note this week because Detroit travels to Los Angeles to play a Rams passing attack that is tied for the NFL lead with Buffalo with 50 completions of 20-plus yards on the season. The Rams have turned eight of those into touchdowns.
Detroit’s Week 18 opponent, Chicago, ranks top 10 in the NFL with 43 completions of 20-plus yards with also eight of those going for touchdowns. Detroit will see some explosive passing attacks down the stretch. The Rams will try to attack the Lions vertically in the pass game Sunday. Detroit should expect it and needs to do a good job forcing incompletions when they are in phase and tackling well to limit run after the catch.
