A look at the Lions' offense at the bye week

October 21, 12:11 PMDetroit Lions ExaminerChris Morgan

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With the Lions on their bye (cue jokes about them still being favored to lose) there isn't anything Lions related to look forward to this week. With that in mind, I've decided to look back. Now, ideally I'd look back at Detroit's season so far at the halfway point. However, with the Lions not playing, I figured why not now? Six weeks of games is enough of a sample size to draw reasonable conclusions I reckon. So today, I'll write about the Lions' offense, and then on Friday, when I'd normally right my game preview, I'll write about the defense.

If I'm going to talk about the offense, obviously there is only one place to start; left guard. No wait, I mean quarterback, sorry. The Lions, going against my wishes, decided to start the future of the franchise Matthew Stafford from day one. Unfortunately, due to his knee injury we don't have a full six games worth of information on him. However, as of right now his numbers on the season are as follows: 56.8% completion rate, 894 yards, three touchdowns, six interceptions, and a 65.5 quarterback rating, whatever that means. I'm a big numbers guy when it comes to sports, I go right to WARP and stuff like that when it comes to baseball, but quarterback rating just seems odd to me. However, I digress.

Stafford is completing a reasonable amount of his passes for a rookie. Accuracy wasn't his strong suit in college, his huge arm was. That's still there, though he hasn't had much of a chance to use it. Obviously, the six interceptions in only 3+ starts isn't good. However, it is also what I expected. He's an underclassman rookie. It was pretty much a guarantee he'd make a ton of mistakes. Even Mark Sanchez has regressed to the mean and now has 10 interceptions on the season. When you start underclassmen as rookies, this is what you get. You just have to hope it doesn't stunt their development.

Additionally, Stafford has run seven times for 50 yards and a touchdown. He's shown decent mobility in the pocket, which is good. All in all, Stafford hasn't looked good. He's had a poor season, but he's shown a ton of potential. He's further ahead than I thought he'd be, but he still has a ways to go before he's even an average NFL starter.

As for Daunte Culpepper and Drew Stanton, they haven't been much of an improvement. Stanton looked really poor in his one showing, whereas Culpepper has pretty much done what Stafford has. His completion percentage is almost the same, he's also thrown twice as many interceptions as touchdowns (one TD and two INTs, to be fair) and his QB rating is about the same but slightly higher. Culpepper is a mediocre NFL quarterback, but that's fine for a backup (or a starter on a lower level team like the Lions). All in all, I've been satisfied with Detroit's quarterbacks, but only because my expectations were (rightfully) low.

The running game, meanwhile, has been quite disappointing. I really liked what I saw from Kevin Smith last season, but this year he's struggled mightily. So far, he's run 109 times for 348 yards and three touchdowns. That's only 3.2 yards per carry. That's not going to cut it. Sure, he's done a solid job in the passing game (20 catches for 149 yards) but he needs to run the ball better. I don't want the Lions to have to be in the market for a running back come the 2010 NFL Draft. As for other running backs, Maurice Morris hasn't done much of anything and Aaron Brown hasn't shown much in his sporadic use. It's harder playing against starters when the games count, evidently.

Now, the receivers. Obviously, Calvin Johnson is having a disappointing, injury prone season. He only has 22 receptions for 364 yards and one touchdown. When he's healthy, he'll be fine. The Lions just really, really need that to happen soon. Bryant Johnson, Dennis Northcutt, and Brandon Pettigrew have all done a fine job. Johnson and Northcutt have both had solid seasons up to this point, and they each have as many TDs as Calvin Johnson. They provide what you want from secondary wide receivers. Pettigrew is never going to be a Antonio Gates type, but he can catch the ball and he's a big dude. When you combine that with his blocking skills, it is a winning combination.

Speaking of blocking, it is time to discuss the offensive line. I'll say this; they're better than last season. Are they good, however? Not by a long shot. I feel that Gosder Cherilus is looking better this season. He still wasn't the right pick when Matt Millen took him (what a shocker) but he might be a decent right tackle for the future. However, Jeff Backus is still lousy. Lions QBs have been sacked 22 times in six games. That's tied for the second most in the NFL. Last season, they let up 52 sacks on the year. To try and compare those two numbers, last year they let up 3.25 sacks per game, this year so far they are letting up 3.67. However, to be fair they did play the Pittsburgh Steelers this year and with a rookie (and Culpepper) back there sacks are going to happen. They still really need to improve their pass blocking, but in the end I think they'll let up less sacks this season.

I unfortunately can't find any website where they track penalty statistics, but I'm sure the Lions' offensive line isn't doing particularly good there. They also probably deserve some of the blame for Kevin Smith's running woes. Here's the best statistical way I can sum up the way the offensive line has played: According Football Outsiders they have the 29th best run blocking and the 26th best pass blocking. Last year they ranked 31st and 32nd. See, progress!

So, all in all, the Lions offense has been poor, but it has been better than last season, even with the injury woes. Stafford is showing a lot of potential, they seem to have some solid secondary wide receivers and a tight end with promise, even the offensive line is (slightly) better. The only thing that seems worse than last season is the running game, and hopefully Smith can find his footing. The Lions clearly have a long way to go, and things will have to be better on offense before they can contend. However, that is what the next offseason is for. For this season, we'll simply have to settle for a Detroit Lions offense that is mediocre at best. If it's enough to win four or five games, that's good enough for me.

For some reason the photo thing got messed up. Here's Kevin Smith in a rare moment of not struggling. (US Presswire)