If you are not aware by now, Pro Football Focus is a website dedicated to grading NFL players’ individual performances based on in depth review of every snap of every game. If you’re interested, here is a look at their grading system.
Let’s take a quick look at what PFF had to say about the Detroit Lions and their loss to the Buffalo Bills, shall we?
With the First Pick
Offense
Best Grades:
Larry Warford: +2.1
Golden Tate: +1.6
Jed Collins: +0.4
Corey Fuller: +0.0
Worst Grades:
Matthew Stafford: -4.7
Rob Sims: -4.4
Brandon Pettigrew: -4.0
Riley Reiff: -1.9
Reggie Bush: -1.7
Analysis:
Last week, Larry Warford received the worst grade on offense via PFF. This week he tops out at +2.1 with the best grade.
Out of 16 total players on offense, only four players didn’t receive a negative grade. Color me unsurprised from this notion as the entire offense looked all out of sorts against Buffalo.
Matthew Stafford had a poor performance against the Bills and it reflected in his -4.7 PFF grade. Stafford was sacked a total of six times and while the offensive line didn’t do a great job of protecting him, he absolutely HAS to get rid of the ball quicker than he did yesterday.
Another telling statistic comes from this tweet:
Golden Tate and Reggie Bush combined for 123 YAC yesterday, per @PFF. Matthew Stafford had just 221 passing yards.
— Josh Katzenstein (@jkatzenstein) October 6, 2014
Stafford’s 221 passing yards were mostly a result of short passes turned into big yardage. Even when he had time, he looked extremely uncomfortable in the pocket and could not get a rhythm going at all.
Luckily for the Lions, they will be going up against weaker defenses over the next few weeks, but Stafford has to be better against tougher defenses if they want to be in playoff contention.
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Defense
Best Grades:
Ndamukong Suh: +2.6
C.J. Mosley: +2.1
Ashlee Palmer: +1.9
DeAndre Levy: +1.3
Danny Gorrer: +1.2
Worst Grades:
Jason Jones: -2.0
Darius Slay: -1.1
Isa Abdul-Quddus: -0.8
Ezekiel Ansah: -0.7
Caraun Reid: -0.4
Analysis:
Despite accumulating the most total pressures on defense, Jason Jones was given the lowest grade (-2.0). Jones ran a few stunts to the outside which created a clear path to Kyle Orton.
Jones had his fair share of QB hits, but Orton did a solid job of getting the ball out quick to his receivers. I believe the low grade for Jones is extremely unwarranted, and I thought he did a fantastic job yesterday.
DeAndre Levy makes the top five once again after totaling 12 tackles and a team high eight stops.
The interior of the defensive line continues to wreak havoc on opposing offenses, and this will likely be an ongoing occurrence as long as Ndamukong Suh is donning the sacred Honolulu Blue shaded jersey.
Caraun Reid receives a negative grade once again, and although he’s only played 32 snaps on the year, he currently has the lowest overall grade for the Lions (-3.5).