Where Detroit Lions' offense is thriving and could stand to improve at 2024 season's midpoint
Allen Park — We’ve reached the midpoint of the 2024 regular season. Well, technically, the midpoint was halftime of last weekend’s game, but it’s hardly our fault the NFL plays an awkward 17-game schedule.
When I polled the audience this week on how they wanted the Detroit Football Network to acknowledge the landmark, proposing some of sports journalism's greatest hits such as grades or awards, there was some resistance to both concepts. Some readers pitched creative variants and alternatives.
Lacking a consensus, I threw several of those ideas in a blender and generated the format below: A position-by-position review that includes key metrics, where things are better since last season, and areas for improvement. Oh, and I tacked on grades because old habits die hard.
Is it perfect? Probably not. Do we have a year to come up with something better? You bet.
Quarterback
Key stat: 104.4 passer rating overall, 124.4 when running play-action
Jared Goff was in the midst of a historically efficient season before the Houston Texans upended his red-hot run with five interceptions last Sunday. Still, despite that hiccup, the reigning NFC Player of the Month has been everything the Lions have needed him to be in 2024.
Even with the struggles last weekend, Goff is on pace to finish with the best completion percentage and passer rating of his career. And while he’d prefer to not need another, his three fourth-quarter comebacks and three game-winning drives are both one shy of his previous bests in a season.
There’s a reason fans can’t stop chanting his name.
Improvement from 2023: Accuracy
Area for improvement: Going by the eye test, Goff’s deep ball has steadily improved during his time in Detroit. Still, only 45.5% of those attempts 20 yards or more beyond the line of scrimmage have been on target this year, which is middle of the pack and would be better.