via: The House of Spears
It’s the end of the season, and that means we can finally take a look back at the season and seasons past to see whether the 2010 Lions were actually improved, and by exactly how much they improved by. Here are ten interesting facts about the 2010 season:1. Detroit Lions quarterbacks threw for 26 TDs and 15 INTs combined. The 26 TDs would tie them with Matt Ryan for 8thh in the NFL. 2010 season was the first time since 2004 that Lions quarterbacks threw for more TDs than interceptions. Joey Harrington threw 19 TDs to 12 picks that year.
2. As a team, the Detroit Lions registered 44 sacks, which is the highest sack total since 1999, when the Lions registered 50 sacks.
3. Ndamukong Suh had 10 sacks in his rookie campaign, which is the second highest total ever for a rookie defensive tackle. It is also the first time since 2004 that a Lion has registered double digit sacks. James Hall had 11.5 sacks in the ’04 campaign.
4. As a defense, the Lions ranked 21st this year, which is the highest a Lions defense has been ranked since 2005, when they ranked 20th. 2010 also marks the first time since 2006 that the Lions defense has been ranked higher than 32nd.
5. The Lions defense allowed 23.7 point per contest in 2010, which is a 7.2 point improvement since last year, when they allowed 30.9 points per game. It is also the lowest PPG since 2005, when they allowed 21.6 points per game.
6. As an offense, the Lions ranked 17th overall in the NFL. It is the highest ranking Lions offense since 2000, when they ranked 16th in the NFL.
7. The Lions offense averaged 22.6 points per game this season, which is a 6.2 point increase from last season when they scored 16.4 points per contest. It is also the highest scoring Lions offense since 1990. (Note, there is some discrepancy for this fact as Pro-Football Reference doesn’t seem to have all its facts correct, but the 2010 Lions are definitely the highest scoring Lions offense in the last decade).
8. In 2010, the Lions had 28 takeaways, which ranked them 9th in the NFL. Last year, they had 23 takeaways. Their 28 takeaways are the highest since 2007, when they caused 35 turnovers.
9. In 2010, the Lions turned the ball over (ie interceptions, recovered fumbles, etc) 23 times, ranking them 6th in the NFL. Last year they had 41 turnovers, which ranked them dead last. The 23 turnovers is the lowest for a Lions team since 2004 when they gave the ball away only 20 times.
10. The Lions runningbacks on average gained 4.0 yards per carry this past season, which was tied for 20th in the league. They also averaged 4.0 yards per carry last season. The last time the Lions averaged more than 4 yards per carry was 2004. It was also the last time the Lions leading rusher rushed for more than a 1000 yards.
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