The Lions put the finishing touches on a 15-2 regular season with a convincing victory in the season finale. That and more in this week’s look at advanced key statistics from Lions-Vikings.
With a victory over the Minnesota Vikings in their regular season finale, the Detroit Lions claimed the NFC North, the top spot in the NFC, and a week’s worth of rest in one fell swoop.
As we’ll do every week throughout the season for this Detroit Lions team, we have some data we can comb through courtesy of various outlets that better help 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 historic win over the Minnesota Vikings.
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25.0% run stop rate, 30.3% pass rush win rate
Levi Onwuzurike’s performance against the Vikings is one that’s flying a bit under the radar. He was an absolute force in the middle for a Detroit defense that desperately needed someone to step up after Alim McNeill’s injury—and he did so in both phases. Onwuzurike posted three run stops across 12 run defense snaps, good for a 25.0% run stop rate that ranked second among 98 qualifying defensive tackles. Against the pass, Onwuzurike led the Lions in pressures (9) and recorded a 30.3% pass rush win rate that also placed him second among 113 qualifying defensive tackles in Week 18.
Perhaps the biggest surprise from this season, Onwuzurike’s comeback is one of the most impressive feats we’ve seen in Detroit. In a season where there was so much negative attention to injuries and injury prevention, it’s only appropriate we celebrate the effort from Onwuzurike and the Lions training staff to rehabilitate a debilitating back injury that nearly derailed Onwuzurike’s professional football career.
132.1 passer rating when targeted, 2.07 yards per route run, 11 first downs
After a four-touchdown performance on “Sunday Night Football,” Jahmyr Gibbs finished as the league’s regular season leader in touchdowns scored (20)—and that number’s even more legit when you figure he shared the backfield with David Montgomery for 14 games. Gibbs was as explosive as ever in the running game, racking up 139 yards on 23 carries and scoring three of those aforementioned touchdowns on the ground, but he was arguably the league’s most effective and productive receiving back in Week 18 as well.
Gibbs finished third among 43 qualifying running backs in the final week with a 132.1 passer rating when targeted, seventh in yards per route run (2.07), and first with three first downs gained on completions. When you total all of his first downs gained through both the air and the ground, Gibbs finished with 11 of his 28 touches resulting in first downs. His emergence this season, from start to finish, has a lot to do with this Lions offense being one of the greatest in the history of the NFL.
0.24 yards per route run, 39.6 passer rating when targeted
The return of Alex Anzalone could be seen and felt across the defense against the Vikings. His communication, his physicality, his energy, it felt like the entire unit benefitted from having Anzalone back in the middle of Detroit’s defense—as broken down here by Jeremy. But on the other side, for Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson, Anzalone’s return wasn’t such a welcome sight—especially for someone who has relished the opportunity to finally win some games since arriving in Minnesota.
“That’s really what we’re here to do is go somewhere and win some games,” Hockenson said after being dealt to the Minnesota Vikings two seasons ago. “That’s kind of the first time I’ve been able to say that.”
Hockenson was held to just two catches on eight targets, gaining only 9 yards of offense. He finished 174th out of 192 qualifying pass catchers in yards per route run (0.24), and t-180th in passer rating when targeted (39.6). Both Anzalone and Jack Campbell combined to hold Hockenson to just one catch for 1 yard on five of his targets, including a pass breakup from Anzalone.
Now Hockenson gets that chance to go somewhere—Los Angeles—and win his first playoff game instead of staying in Minnesota for an extra week’s rest.
81.4% shadow rate
“I appreciate y’all, man, because y’all gave me a chance to showcase what I could do when they tried to bury me, dog,” Lions cornerback Amik Robertson said after receiving a game ball in the locker room from Dan Campbell. “But they can’t bury what comes from the [expletive] dirt.”
Robertson had one of the toughest assignments thrown his way in the finale: cover Justin Jefferson, perhaps the best wideout in the NFL. And after spending the majority of the season as the team’s nickel corner, but now being asked to line up outside—and wherever Jefferson was aligned—it seemed even more a fool’s errand. But Robertson lined up against Jefferson on 35 of his 43 routes (81.4% shadow rate), allowing only 2 receptions for 48 yards on 6 targets.
Furthermore, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, Robertson played man coverage on 25 of those 35 routes, becoming the second player to record over 20 man-coverage snaps against a single receiver in a game this season—Pat Surtain had 27 in Week 17 vs Ja’Marr Chase.
Check out Morgan’s film breakdown to get even more insight to Robertson’s primetime performance.
