What it means: Interceptions launched
NFL Rang: On equality – 4th the most
Twentyman: During his first two seasons in Detroit, the quarter-Arrière Jared Goff launched 15 total combined interceptions. The last two seasons, he has launched 12 each year. This does not include the three interceptions that Goff launched the defeat of the Detroit eliminatory series against Washington.
The Detroit passes game has been more explosive in the past two seasons, and when the teams push the ball on the ground, interceptions also tend to increase. Goff does not care to throw in tight windows and has a ton of confidence in his receivers. There was also bad luck with some of these interceptions, but it is an area of his game that Goff can continue to improve.
Twentyman: We have to take this total with a grain of salt since Iidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, Derrick Barnes and Alim McNeill missed 44 games last season. Their presence would certainly have had an impact on this total.
Hutchinson and Davenport have a chance to be a good enough duo at the point if Davenport can remain healthy. Once McNeill returns after the rehabilitated ACL has suffered at the end of last year, the Lions expect to generate more pressure and bags this season, in particular with the return of Levi Onwuzurike (22 pressures last year) and some other additions made this offseason in advance. Staying healthy is the key.
Detroit was one of the league leaders in total pressures last season, but there is a big difference between pressures and bags in the analysis. Consider this: the teams of last season scored a hit or a goal on the field on only 26.2% of their discs when taking a bag. They marked a touch on these discs only 8.2% of the time. The bags mark the killers in this league.
