3 Areas Where the Lions Can Excel on Offense in 2020
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It’s no secret that the Detroit Lions struggled mightily in many facets of the game in 2019.
The defense was a collective disaster, and the offense had some flashes of success but plenty of negatives as well.
Heading into the 2020 season, here are three areas on offense that could be considered strengths:
1.) Deep passing
Matthew Stafford was flourishing last season under new offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell before being sidelined with a back injury.
With Stafford under center, his average depth of target was 11.4 yards, and he threw the football 20 or more yards on 19.2 percent of his attempts -- both highest for any quarterback in the NFL.
There is no reason to believe that the aggressive nature of the offense will change this upcoming season.
2.) Contested catches
The Lions' receivers may not be the best at creating separation, but they make up for it by catching balls in traffic.
Both Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones Jr. are magicians when it comes to making the difficult grab via elite body control and strong hands.
Golladay was one of only two NFL players with 25-plus contested catches in 2019, and he has the second-most in the NFL since 2018.
Meanwhile, before landing on injured reserve last season, Jones had the third-most contested catches.
Since 2017, the Lions are the only team with two wide receivers in the top 10 for the highest catch rate on contested targets.
Perhaps on a smaller scale, Quintez Cephus -- the first of two fifth-round selections by the Lions in this year’s draft -- is no slouch, either.
His contested catch rate of 66.7 percent was near the top of the entire draft class.
3.) Red zone
One of the advantages of bigger wide receivers and a strong-armed quarterback comes in the red zone.
It’s not always easy to find a path to score with a compressed field.
Jones’ eight touchdown grabs in the red zone were the most in the NFL last year.
In terms of touchdown percentage of catches in the red zone, both Jones and Golladay have been incredibly efficient.
Then, add in tight end T.J. Hockenson -- who hopefully can haul in a few more of his opportunities this season -- and rookie running back D’Andre Swift, and the Lions have a plethora of weapons near the goal line.
A true threat to punch the ball in on the ground will go a long way for the offense.
The Lions finished 12th in red-zone touchdown scoring percentage in 2019.
If anything, there is the potential for that rank to improve this year.
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