Lions toxic aggressiveness to a new level.
Last week, Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions took fourth-down aggression to a new level. In an era when coaches are increasingly embracing analytics, it was Campbell’s bold decisions that helped the Lions secure a narrow victory against the Los Angeles Chargers.
One of those decisions was one that even the normally aggressive computer models thought was risky. With 1:47 left in the fourth quarter, the Lions faced fourth and two at the Chargers 26-yard line. Instead of settling for a field goal that would give Detroit the lead but give the Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert ample time to drive for either a tying or going-ahead score, the Lions went for it and were rewarded when quarterback Jared Goff hit receiver Sam LaPorta for a 6-yard gain. The Lions then drove down the field and won on a last-play field goal.
The Lions were only the fourth team in the history of Sportradar to kick a field goal from inside the 30-yard line in the last two minutes of a tie game, and the first to do so when it required more than 1 yard to gain a first down, dating back to 2000.
The Lions went 4-for-5 on fourth downs, while the Chargers went 3-for-3 — not including a penalty — and tied for the second most fourth downs converted in a game (since at least 1991) with a total of eight. The Chargers scored three fourth-down touchdowns, the first in a regular season game since Pittsburgh beat Jacksonville in the 2017 divisional round.
There have been 418 fourth-down attempts this season, seven fewer than the record-breaking pace set in 2021, and 51.2 percent of those attempts have been successful. More than half of drives (103 of 201) that end with a successful fourth down try result in a touchdown.
” THE RANGE ROOKIE
Despite being the second pick overall in the draft, Houston quarterback C. J. Stroud has been one of the best players in the NFL through the first 10 weeks of the season. Stroud has a league-leading 291.8 passing yards per game, which would be the most for a rookie quarterback since 2020 when Oregon’s Justin Herbert led the way with 289.1 yards per game. If Stroud keeps this up, he could be the first quarterback since before the war to lead the NFL in passing yards per game. The NFL records show that only Davey O’Brien (120.4 yards per game in 1939) and Baugh (102.5 yards per game in 1937) have ever led the league in passing yards as a rookie. If Stroud continues to play at his recent level, he could join Jim Brown (1957 winner of the MVP) as the only rookie quarterback to win the MVP.
Dallas Cowboys (1-0) will be glad to see the end of their play against New York Giants (0-1). The Cowboys swept their long-time NFC East rivals in the season opener 40-0, and then beat the Giants again on Sunday, 49-17. This marks the seventh time a team has outscored its opponent by 72 points or more in a single season since New England did it in 2007 by outscoring Buffalo 77-0. The Cowboys outgained the Giants on Sunday by a whopping 468 yards, the biggest difference since the Rams beat Seattle 482-482 on November 4, 1979.
Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott (3rd consecutive game with 300 yards and three touchdowns) and wide receiver Cee Dee Lamb (4th in a row) have the longest streaks in the NFL this season, with only Steve Young (5 in a row in 1998 and Mahomes (4 in a row in 2018 and Manning (4 in 2012) having longer streaks.
Lamb has now become the sixth player to have three games with 150 yards receiving since the merger, joining Josh Gordon in 2013, Isaac Bruce in 1995, Andre Rison in 1990, James Lofton in 1984 and Roy Green in 1984. He can make history by becoming the first to do so four times when Dallas visits Carolina this week.
The Pittsburgh Steelers continue to find ways to score points on the scoreboard, even when they are outgained on the field. The Steelers have been outgained in every game this season, despite their 6-3 record, and have never had a winning record so deep into a season since 1960, when the 21 teams that were outgained in their first nine games combined for a winning percentage of.185.
Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots, who have won six Super Bowls since his arrival in 2000, are also in uncharted territory.
New England (2-8) sits at the bottom of the AFC table with a record of 2-8, which is the worst since the Patriots went 0-1 in 2001 when coach Bill Belichick was in his first season.
With one more loss, the Patriots will finish with a losing record for the second time in three seasons since the 1992-93 campaign.
With this loss, Belichick now has 173 regular season and playoff losses, five shy of Tom Landry’s all-time record.
New England’s last loss was to Indianapolis, 10-6, in Germany on September 23, 2001. The Patriots had won 94 consecutive regular season and playoff games when they allowed 10 points or less. The last time New England lost a regular season game by more than 10 points was in the second half of the 2001 season when the Jets routed the Patriots, 10-3, in what turned out to be the end of the Tom Brady era.
