Ridiculous stat highlights Detroit Lions’ tough red-zone defense

The Detroit Lions pass defense in the red zone has been outstanding this year.

The Detroit Lions offense has been catching a lot of headlines after their 47-point performance against the Dallas Cowboys, and the only thing anyone seems to want to talk about defensively is the injury to Aidan Hutchinson.

However, the Lions PR Twitter account dropped a statistic on Tuesday morning that brought some serious attention to the work the Lions defense has been doing, particularly when they’re deep in their own zone. Per the account, when opposing teams are throwing into the end zone this year, they’re a collective just 1-of-14 for 10 yards, one touchdown, and five interceptions. That’s resulting in a 23.8 passer rating on passes targeted into the end zone.

According to the same Lions PR tweet, all four of Joseph’s interceptions this season have come in the end zone, and as far back as TruMedia’s data goes back (2006), that is the most interceptions in the end zone for an entire season.

Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys was a perfect example of how good Detroit’s pass defense was in the red zone. According to Stathead, the Cowboys went a collective 3-of-9 for just 9 yards in the red zone—with two interceptions. For the season, the Lions red zone defense is allowing just 9-of-25 passing for 59 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions — a passer rating allowed of 44.6.

When you combine this stout pass defense with a run defense allowing just 83.2 yards per game (third best), you get a pretty strong red zone defense. The Cowboys had a total of three red zone trips on Sunday against Detroit, and turned those opportunities into a grand total of three points. Through five games, the Lions are allowing touchdowns on just 46.7% of red zone trips, which is the 11th-best mark in the NFL.

With an offense as potent as Detroit’s is, if they can pair that with a good red zone defense, this team will continue to thrive.