For several years now, I’ve kept a spreadsheet of every sack the Detroit Lions have allowed (and, most years, of ones they’ve recorded, too).
It helps me understand where the breakdowns are on certain plays and how the offensive line is playing in pass protection beyond what the stats say.
The Lions have played well up front through five games. They have the top-graded offensive line in football, according to Pro Football Focus, and are getting good play across the unit.
Since it’s the bye week, I spent the morning Friday, Oct. 16, catching up on my sack chart. I figured I’d share a little of what I found after re-watching all 11 sacks the Lions have allowed this year (plus the sack-fumble against the New Orleans Saints that was overturned on replay).
In the details
Jared Goff is tied for the 12th-most sacked quarterback in the NFL through five weeks, and the Lions rank 10th in sack percentage per pass attempt (5.76%). But the line has been better than even those numbers suggest.
Tight ends Brock Wright (against the Buffalo Bills) and Sam LaPorta (Arizona Cardinals) have each allowed one sack, and running back Jahmyr Gibbs has allowed two (both against the New York Jets).
I designated the first of the four sacks the Lions allowed against the Bills a coverage sack, and the only sack the Lions allowed against the Carolina Panthers, on the final series of the game, was due to a slow-developing play.
Fill-in center Juice Scruggs still had a breakdown handling on a stunt on that play, and the Lions struggled with another stunt on the coverage sack against the Bills. But of the 11 sacks they’ve allowed this season, only seven have come against offensive linemen, and two of those were unavoidable due to the play.
They really hurt
As you’d expect, most of the sacks the Lions have allowed this year have been drive-killers, and the few struggles they’ve had in pass protection help explain their slow-starting ways on offense.
The Lions have punted on eight of the 11 drives they’ve allowed a sack this year and turned the ball over on downs once. They managed to kick a field goal when rookie right tackle Blake Miller allowed a sack when he was late getting out of his stance on a Week 1 play against the New Orleans Saints, but that sack came on first-and-goal from the 11 (after a penalty) and potentially cost the Lions points.
Three more of the Lions’ sacks this year have come on the plus side of the 50 and knocked the offense out of fringe field goal range. The only time the Lions still finished with a touchdown after allowing a sack, they converted a fourth-and-18 to keep the drive alive.
Of the 11 sacks the Lions have allowed this year, seven have come in the first quarter. The Lions have scored 10 first-quarter points this year, fourth fewest in the league. The correlation is obvious: Protect Goff better early in games, and the offense will get off to better starts.
Holding up
Mostly, the Lions are winning their one-on-one battles up front in pass protection. Four of the 11 sacks they’ve allowed have come against five-man pressures and three more have come against mishandled stunts. Miller didn’t seem to know the snap count on the lone sack he allowed, and backups Ben Bartch and Larry Borom were all or partly responsible for three of the four sacks against the Bills.
Second-year right guard Tate Rateldge is the only starter I haven’t given a sack to this year, but the unit has taken a big step forward overall after Goff was sacked a career-high 38 times last year – especially considering its youth.
Best of all for Lions fans, the group could be getting even better with center Cade Mays set to return from his broken wrist after the bye.
“I've seen a lot of growth over these five weeks, and I really feel like it's been− the hard thing when you're dealing with some young players is, there are these inconsistencies, these peaks and valleys,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said Monday, Oct. 12. “But I feel like through these five weeks, we've had the peaks and valleys, but we continue to − we are trending up. We are getting better, but there's still the inconsistencies that go with it. So, we're coming out better than we were, but yet we’ve got a lot of room to improve.”
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
Charting Lions sacks allowed
Juice Scruggs (2), Jahmyr Gibbs (2), Penei Sewell, Blake Miller, Christian Mahogany, Ben Bartch, Larry Borom, Sam LaPorta, Brock Wright
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Do the Detroit Lions really have one of the best O-lines in the NFL?
