The red hot Lions will play the struggling Jaguars at home on Sunday. Currently Detroit sits at an NFC-best 8-1 record while Jacksonville is at the bottom of league with a 2-8 record.
With both teams having such a contrast in records, it is interesting to see how they stack up statistically.
Rushing
The Lion’s rush offense has been their rock throughout the season while the Jaguars have not had much success. Detroit’s ground game is led by two stellar running backs in Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. While on the other hand, Jacksonville’s run game has been stunted by injuries to starting running back Travis Etienne, causing Tank Bigsby to take over as their lead rusher. Bigsby is out for this game, however.
From the statistics, the Lions seem to have the edge when it comes to running the ball by a large margin.
Lions
3rd in rushing attempts per game: 31.1
7th in rushing yards per game: 147.3
8th in yards per attempt: 4.7
3rd in rushing touchdowns per game: 1.7
Jaguars
26th in rushing attempts per game: 22.9
24th in rushing yards per game: 107.7
10th in yards per attempt: 4.7
10th in rushing touchdowns per game: 1
Passing
Detroit has not passed often, but when they do it has been very successful with Jared Goff at the helm.
On the other hand, it has been the opposite for Jacksonville and Trevor Lawrence, as they rank at the bottom of the league in passing offense, giving the Lions a leg up. Lawrence won’t play due to injury this week, replaced by Mac Jones
Lions
28th in pass attempts per game: 27.7
3rd in yards per attempt: 8.6
13th in yards per game: 219.6
1st in completion percentage: 71.89%
4th in passing touchdowns per game: 2
Jaguars
22nd in pass attempts per game: 30.5
20th in yards per attempt: 7
23rd in yards per game: 195.2
29th in completion percentage: 61.64%
23rd in passing touchdowns per game: 1.1
Rushing Defense
Detroit has been improving their defense week by week and are statistically a very good rushing defense. As for Jacksonville, they find themselves in the middle of the pack.
Lions
6th in opponent yards per game: 100.8
17th in opponent yards per attempt: 4.4
5th in opponent rushing first downs per game: 5.3
16th in opponent touchdowns per game: 1
Jaguars
20th in opponent yards per game: 129.4
11th in opponent yards per attempt: 4.3
17th in opponent rushing first downs per game: 6.9
21st in opponent touchdowns per game: 1.1
Passing Defense
If there is one thing both teams can improve on it’s pass defense, as both teams are among the worst in the league.
Lions
10th in opponent completions percentage: 63.72%
28th in opponent yards per game: 244.2
15th in opponent yards per attempt: 6.5
28th in opponent passing first downs per game: 12.2
3rd in opponent passing touchdowns per game: 0.8
Jaguars
31st in opponent completions percentage: 69.88%
30th in opponent yards per game: 261.2
31st in opponent yards per attempt: 7.6
31st in opponent passing first downs per game: 13.4
29th in opponent passing touchdowns per game: 1.9
Other Stats
Takeaways
Lions: 2
Jaguars: 0.8
Giveaways
Lions: 1.1
Jaguars: 1.5
Penalties per game
Lions: 6.6
Jaguars: 5.7
