In every off-season there comes a point when the Lions actually get some national buzz on being a surprise team for the upcoming season.
It has happened again.
Take it with a grain of salt but this comes from two of the more respected people at ESPN, Mina Kimes and Bill Barnwell.
On Mina Kimes podcast The Mina Kimes Show featuring Lenny, Kimes and Barnwell were talking about the Bears and how they disappointed by being 8-8 last season, and then Kimes interjected about the Lions:
WHAT ESPN SAID ABOUT LIONS
[Mina Kimes]: “I think the Lions could actually…
[Bill Barnwell]: “Yes! I do too!”
[Kimes]: “…surprise, yeah, Stafford was crushing it last season.”
[Barnwell]: “Lions are a lot like, they are a lot like, they are going to be like number one on my list of teams likely to improve this year. I don’t think they are going to be the Niners but they could be a playoff team, that wouldn’t shock me.”
Now it is easy to say that a team that was 3-12-1 last season with their starting quarterback out for half the season will improve but lets look at the numbers.
CLOSER LOOK AT STAFFORD’S NUMBERS
The Lions were 3-4-1 with Stafford playing last season. Stafford had 2,499 pass yards with a 64.3 completion percentage, 19 touchdowns to just 5 interceptions.
Stafford was also Top 5 in the NFL last season in:
QBR vs Man Coverage (5th)
QBR vs Zone Coverage (3rd)
QBR vs The Blitz (1st)
Surprised?
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