Detroit Lions 2014 Final Stats, 16 Weeks too Early
By Kent Platte
Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Every year when a player has a strong stretch of games or maybe fills in for a few games while another player is out during injury, you often see folks make grandiose claims about what their stats would be if they were projected out over a 16 game season.
A stat junkie myself, I’ve always enjoyed projecting stats, even if they are almost completely worthless from an actual projection standpoint, just to see what craziness pops out. It tends to even out as the year goes on, as players start to normalize expectations by playing against some good teams to go with the bad and vice versa, but the most fun can be had by projecting stats by a basic *16 method after week 1 of the NFL season.
So here’s your first look at how the Detroit Lions stats “Will look like after the season”!
Passing
Stafford comes out on FIRE and tears up defenses all season long. He finishes top 5 in receiving yards, but even that is good enough for these ridiculous stats!
| ATT | COMP | PCT | YDS | AVG | TD | TD% | INT | RATE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 512 | 352 | 68.8 | 5536 | 10.8 | 32 | 6.3 | 0 | 125.3 |
Ironically, it’s Matt Ryan who takes the gold as a passer, setting a new NFL record for yardage with 7,808 yards on the season! Tony Romo and Alex Smith watch their contract value continue to be criticized after they both put up 48 interception seasons…EACH.
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Rushing
A bit disappointing for the Lions in 2014 is the running game. After looking so promising in 2013, the backs just couldn’t get it together from a running standpoint. Some gaudy numbers due to volume, but inefficiency reared it’s ugly head and Joique Bell struggled with 16 fumbles on the season.
| NAME | ATT | YDS | AVG | LONG | 20+ | TD | YDS/G | FUM | FUML | 1DN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joique Bell | 240 | 816 | 3.4 | 12 | 0 | 16 | 51 | 16 | 0 | 48 |
| Reggie Bush | 144 | 240 | 1.7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Golden Tate | 16 | 64 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Theo Riddick | 16 | 64 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matthew Stafford | 64 | 32 | 0.5 | 5 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Totals | 480 | 1216 | 2.5 | 12 | 0 | 32 | 76 | 16 | 0 | 80 |
| Opponents | 352 | 848 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 16 | 53 | 0 | 0 | 64 |
Bell wasn’t the worst for fumbles, however, as Robert Griffen the 3 managed to fumble a league high 32 times on the season. Knowshon Moreno would take the rushing crown, rushing for 2,144 yards on the season! A combination of Marshawn Lynch, Mark Ingram, and Isaiah Crowell would nab the most end zone scores, however, with 32 a piece in a record-setting year for rushers.
Receiving
Calvin Johnson leads not only the Lions, but the whole of the NFL (Again). While that should be no surprise, his partner in crime posts some equally impressive numbers for the 2014 season, though he’s joined by a rejuvinated Reggie Bush who puts up some Maddenesque receiving numbers for a RB.
| NAME | REC | TAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | 20+ | YDS/G | FUM | FUML | YAC | 1DN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calvin Johnson | 112 | 176 | 2624 | 23.4 | 32 | 67 | 48 | 164 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 96 |
| Golden Tate | 96 | 96 | 1488 | 15.5 | 0 | 44 | 16 | 93 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 64 |
| Reggie Bush | 96 | 96 | 784 | 8.2 | 0 | 24 | 16 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| Joseph Fauria | 16 | 48 | 416 | 26 | 0 | 26 | 16 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Brandon Pettigrew | 16 | 16 | 144 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Joique Bell | 16 | 16 | 80 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 352 | 512 | 5536 | 15.7 | 32 | 67 | 96 | 346 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 224 |
| Opponents | 288 | 528 | 2608 | 9 | 16 | 21 | 32 | 163 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 128 |
AJ Green managed to come in second in receiving yards, breaking the 2,000 yard barrier by pulling in 2096 yards in 2014. That was still well short of Calvin Johnson’s insane 2,624 yards, however. Calvin Johnson would break the receiving TD record as well as yardage, but he’ll come up short for receiving touchdowns as Julius Thomas leads the NFL with a monstrous 48 TDs on the season!
Defense
Some surprises in Detroit as the Lions interior rushers don’t manage a single sack between them on the season. Ziggy Ansah would put up stats equal to his rookie campaign with 8 sacks, but George Johnson will amaze on his way to 24 sacks on the season, breaking the sack record in his only real season of action!
While he won’t record an interception, Darius Slay manages 48 pass deflections while Glover Quin and DeAndre Levy each haul in 16 interceptions to break Night Train’s longstanding record. DeAndre Levy is clearly the leader of this defense as he posts a whopping 160 tackles as well, 112 of which are defensive stops!
| NAME | SOLO | AST | TOT | SACK | YDSL | TLOSS | PD | INT | YDS | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeAndre Levy | 144 | 16 | 160 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 16 | 16 | 208 | 13 | 0 |
| Stephen Tulloch | 96 | 32 | 128 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Glover Quin | 64 | 16 | 80 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 16 | 288 | 18 | 0 |
| Isa Abdul-Quddus | 64 | 16 | 80 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ndamukong Suh | 48 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| George Johnson | 32 | 16 | 48 | 24 | 240 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Darius Slay | 48 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jerome Couplin | 32 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rashean Mathis | 16 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C.J. Mosley | 16 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Fairley | 0 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Travis Lewis | 16 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tahir Whitehead | 16 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ezekiel Ansah | 0 | 16 | 16 | 8 | 80 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Theo Riddick | 16 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nevin Lawson | 16 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 624 | 128 | 752 | 32 | 304 | 32 | 96 | 32 | 496 | 18 | 0 |
| Opponents | 704 | 448 | 1152 | 16 | 80 | 48 | 64 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The Eric Berry/Paul Worrilow combination break 200 tackles on the season, each posting 240 to lead the NFL. Justin Smith, Paul Kruger, and others prevent George Johnson from owning the sack record by posting 32 on the year. Rahim Moore and Jason McCourty each post 32 interceptions, completely shattering the previously held record of 14.
Summary
Well, the Lions managed to go 16-0, but it is a close race as 15 other teams have a matching record. These statistics are obviously ridiculous, which should illustrate just how futile it can be at times to project statistics based on minimal sample sizes.
It would be hard to complain with the stats above, however, if we were to see them on the Detroit Lions stats sheet, but even more surprising than how crazy these stats are is the idea that somebody on this roster will blow these projections out of the water. There are far too many factors to successfully project statistics with any kind of accuracy, as injuries, preparedness, coaching, and other factors all play into the final numbers as well as fatigue and general tendencies.
That has never prevented this from being loads of fun, though!