2. Number: 12
What it means: Interceptions thrown
NFL rank: Tied - 4th most
Twentyman: In his first two seasons in Detroit, quarterback Jared Goff threw 15 total interceptions combined. The last two seasons he's thrown 12 each year. That doesn't include the three interceptions Goff threw in Detroit's playoff loss to Washington.
Detroit's passing game has been more explosive the last two seasons, and when teams push the ball down the field, interceptions tend to go up as well. Goff doesn't mind throwing into tight windows and has a ton of trust in his receivers. There's been some bad luck with some of those interceptions too, but it's one area of his game Goff can continue to improve.
3. Number: 37.0
What it means: Sacks
NFL rank: 23rd
Twentyman: We have to take this total with a grain of salt given Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, Derrick Barnes and Alim McNeill missed a combined 44 games last season. Their presence would have certainly had an impact on this total.
Hutchinson and Davenport have a chance to be a pretty good duo on the edge if Davenport can stay healthy. Once McNeill returns after rehabbing a torn ACL suffered late last year, the Lions expect to generate more pressure and sacks this season especially with the return of Levi Onwuzurike (22 pressures last year) and some other additions made this offseason upfront. Staying healthy is the key.
Detroit was among the league leaders in total pressures last season, but there is a big difference between pressures and sacks in the analytics. Consider this: Last season teams scored a touchdown or a field goal on just 26.2 percent of their drives when taking a sack. They scored a touchdown on those drives just 8.2 percent of the time. Sacks are scoring killers in this league.