Lions-Cardinals key stats: Detroit dominant in the trenches

Detroit’s defense looked stifling in the desert. That and more in this week’s look at advanced key statistics from Lions-Cardinals.

The Detroit Lions got back in the winner’s circle in Week 3, cooling off a red-hot Arizona Cardinals’ offense in the desert, 20-13.

As we’ll do every week throughout the season for this Lions team, we have some data we can comb through courtesy of Pro Football Focus that better helps us understand the football the Lions have played thus far—and what to look forward to in the coming weeks. Let’s take a closer look at the Lions by the numbers after their win over the Cardinals.

Pro Football Focus’ premium statistics are an invaluable data point for football fans to better understand the game. Consider subscribing to PFF to have full access to a plethora of stats and grades to keep you informed about the NFL—and college football, too. Also, NFL Pro is supplying some innovative and illustrative advanced statistics of their own that are worth checking out for the price of admission.

7.8% defensive stop rate, 18.8% run stop rate

The Lions defense was the big takeaway from Week 3’s matchup with the Cardinals. Detroit held a team that was red hot on offense coming into the game (fifth in team offense DVOA, second in points scored) to just 13 points and 277 yards of offense.

Carlton Davis, one of the newcomers to the Detroit secondary this season, played the most complete game of his Lions tenure, posting a 7.8% defensive stop rate according to NFL’s Next Gen Stats—the league average over the past three years for defensive backs is 2.5%. In the run game, specifically, Davis helped set the tone for a Lions defense that held the Cardinals running backs to just 2.4 yards per carry (13 carries, 32 yards). According to PFF, Davis was the top cornerback in Week 3 at defending the run, posting an 89.2 run defense grade and an eye-popping 18.8% run stop rate—three defensive stops on just 17 run defense snaps.

“Man, that’s the guy [Davis] I know. That’s the player I know,” Dan Campbell said during Monday’s media availability.

“He’s sticky in coverage. Physical in the run game. High effort […] Played a physical game on the perimeter, and I would say as a whole, you turn on the tape, it’s one thing to see your o-line and d-line set the tone for a game. But I think, man, you want to see a physical team, look at the receivers in the run game, look at the DBs in the run game. And man, our guys come up and hit, they block, they tackle, and CD [Davis] was one of those guys. He was physical, he was a force.”

5.1 expected yards per carry, 119.5 elusive rating

Speaking of the run game, the Lions got back to their old ways, running the ball 43 times to put this game away. Detroit’s tandem of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs combined for 39 carries and 188 yards on the ground (4.8 yards per carry). On the first drive of the game, Montgomery and the Lions offensive line bullied their way down the field to punch the ball in from the 1-yard line, but let’s give Gibbs some recognition for more than just the hook-and-ladder play that landed on everyone’s timeline.

For Week 3, Gibbs was one of the most efficient and explosive runners. His 5.1 expected yards per carry (xYPC) placed him fourth among running backs according to NFL’s Next Gen Stats, a measure of how many rushing yards is a ball-carrier expected to gain on a given carry based on the relative location, speed and direction of blockers and defenders per attempt. Not only was Gibbs an efficient runner with the football, he had his patented shake as well, posting a 119.5 elusive rating according to PFF—11th out of 49 qualifying running backs in Week 3. Here’s an explanation of elusive rating from PFF:

PFF’s elusive rating boils down a runner’s success past the point of being helped by his blockers. It takes into account yards after contact, missed tackles forced on carries and on receptions to generate a figure that stands the test of just how difficult a running back is to take down.

4 punts inside the 20, long of 68

Give it up for Jack Fox, one of the unsung heroes who played a huge part in the Lions winning the field position battle in the second half against the Cardinals.

In the second half alone, Fox put three of his four punts inside the ten yard line, pinning Arizona at the 9, 7, and 2-yard line for three of their seven drives in the second half—his other punt put the Cardinals on their own 12-yard line. In total, four of his punts were downed inside the Arizona 20-yard line which was third among all punters in Week 3, and his 68-yard bomb punt was the longest punt of the week.

With Detroit’s defense playing as stout as they did against Arizona, having a “Field Position Optimization Specialist” like Fox put the Cardinals in uncomfortable territory with their backs up against the goal line.

“I don’t know how you play any better than [Jack] Fox did as a punter,” Campbell said on Monday.

We don’t either.