Key Lions-Texans Stats: Stunning numbers from Detroit’s defense

What hasn’t been said about this game yet? Five interceptions by Jared Goff, three in first half? No problem, the defense will throw a shutout in the second half. No Taylor Decker at the left tackle spot? Next justified man up. 16 points behind at halftime, winless when trailing by more than 10 points at halftime in the Dan Campbell era? Jake Bates will do it from distance.

Like every week throughout the season for this Detroit Lions team, thanks to PFF we can sift through some data that will help us better understand the football the Lions have played so far – and what we can look forward to in future weeks. Let’s take a closer look at the Lions’ numbers after a wild win in Houston.

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21 run defense stops

After a month-long stretch of football in which the Lions defense struggled to stop the run while the Cowboys game fell by the wayside, Detroit’s rush defense turned in one of its most dominant performances of the Dan Campbell era against the Houston Texans. On Sunday night, the Texans had 28 rushing attempts that only gave them 56 yards (2.0 yards per carry). Of those, Detroit’s defense recorded 28 rushing attempts 21 run defense stops per PFF.

To understand this differently, 75 percent of Houston’s rushing attempts were deemed complete failures by PFF’s standards (their 25% success rate was the third-lowest of the week, according to NFL Pro). That’s not all that surprising given the raw stats in the box score, but it’s even more impressive when you consider that 25 of those rushing attempts came from Joe Mixon. In his six games prior to this game against Detroit, Mixon ranked 13th among running backs in yards per carry (4.8), but other than his 8-yard rushing touchdown early in the first quarter, Mixon averaged just 1.6 yards per carry his other 24 carries.

15.0% run defense stop rate, -0.3 average tackle depth

You thought we were done talking about run defense? After The Type of service? Watching this game live, this is the most obvious explanation for how the Lions’ defense kept them in this football game in the first half – and also for how it kept the Texans off the scoreboard in the second half.

It was reminiscent of the Week 11 game against the New York Giants in 2022. As a reminder, the Lions limited New York’s ground game, limiting them to 89 yards on 26 carries, but 50 of those rushing yards came on seven rushes by Daniel Jones . The Lions held Saquon Barkley to 22 yards on 15 carries, and Detroit’s run defense officially turned things around that day, thanks in large part to the performance of the man in the middle of all the run-stuffing: Alim McNeill.

Nearly two years later, McNeill continues to be the difference maker for this defense. Against the Texans, McNeill recorded one 15.0% run defense stop rate ranked sixth out of 52 qualified interior defenders in Week 10 and had a ridiculous performance -0.3 yards average depth of attack which ranked third within the same group of players. McNeill was in the backfield all night in both phases against Houston and was instrumental in helping the Lions earn their walk-off win.

43% forced incompletion rate

Brian Branch is an All-Pro. He is the best safety in football. 44 picks came and went in the 2023 NFL Draft and the Green Bay Packers decided to simply move up and give the Lions the best safety in the league. Instead of spending $68 million on a safety, they should really try this whole draft one thing in the second round, that’s great.

Back after his mistaken ejection a week ago, Branch was out there making plays — plural — in Houston. I didn’t want to beat a dead horse here, but Branch was also a game-changing player in run defense, posting the best run defense grade for Detroit (88.3), the most run stops (4), and an equally ridiculous average depth tackle of 0.8 yards. But enough about run defense!

Against the Texans, Branch was a ball hawk in coverage and scored one 43% forced incompletion ratea number that made him the No. 1 safety targeted by coverage at least twice in Week 10 — and Branch was targeted seven (7) times, another number that earned him first place among players at his position. Of the seven targets credited to him by PFF, he forced three incompletions with some sticky coverage and allowed four receptions for just 21 yards, the longest of which was a 10-yard completion to Xavier Hutchinson.

9.7% blitz rate, 13.8% turnover worthy play rate

Let’s look at the concerns some have surrounding Goff’s five interceptions, because it’s important to understand the context.

If the defense can create pressure by sending just four defenders, that’s a death sentence for any quarterback in this league. Against Goff, when you huddle together and clog up the passing lanes in the middle of the field And Building pressure without blitzing is child’s play – but that’s the biggest task any defense has to overcome and hold on for 60 minutes.

Houston just kept blitzing 9.7% of Goff’s dropbacks, which is in stark contrast to the blitz rate Goff had through the first eight games of the season (40.5%, the second-highest mark among quarterbacks). Houston was able to disrupt Goff with only four defenders and force one 13.8% revenue worthy play rate from the Lions quarterback, his worst mark in Week 10. Goff’s completion rate was just 51.9%, the fourth-lowest mark last week. Four of his five interceptions came on plays where the Texans didn’t even blitz.

And they were wise not to put any additional pressure on Goff, considering how incredibly effective he was against the blitz this season, posting the second-best yards per attempt (10.7), touchdowns (7), completion percentage (76, 4%) and passer rating (129.8) in the NFL. But what happened in the end? Houston was unable to maintain the pressure they were generating without blitzing in the second half, and what do you know, Goff and the Lions’ offense managed to get into rhythm and snatch victory from defeat .