By The Numbers: Patriots-Lions

Was the Lions’ 34-10 victory over the Patriots last night in Week Three of the preseason as bad as it looked? Sometimes, the final numbers don’t match up with what the eye saw on the field. Do these? I’ll let you be the judge of that. Here are some numbers that jumped out to me from the New England Patriots-Detroit Lions preseason game:

• 158.3, 122.5, 77.4: The QB ratings for the Lions first three quarterbacks on the depth chart. All three ended the game with better passer ratings than Tom Brady (71.2), as well as the rest of New England’s quarterbacks. Oh yeah, and that’s Matthew Stafford’s perfect QB rating of 158.3.
• 2: The number of incomplete passes thrown by Lions QB Matthew Stafford, and one was a would-be TD that was dropped by Nate Burleson./The number of times Tom Brady was sacked, both by Cliff Avril, though he was hurried and hit several times./The number of sacks the Patriots got, but both were not by guys that should be getting sacks (CB Kyle Arrington, LB Niko Koutouvides)./The total number of touchbacks out of seven kickoffs by the Lions. Their plan was to kick high and to around the goal line, pinning the Pats in. The strategy worked, with the Patriots often not returning the ball to the 20.
• 4: The total number of times Chad Ochocinco was targeted by a Patriots QB. One of those was intercepted, and another popped right out of Ocho’s hands.
• 66: The total number of punt return and kick return yardage by Julien Edelman, who was one of the lone bright spots in the game for the Pats, compared to…
• 61: The total number of rushing yards by the Pats, and 6 of those were from a Tom Brady scramble.
• 0%: The red zone efficiency of the Patriot offense. By comparison, it was 100% the first two weeks of the preseason.
• 10: The total number of penalties by the Patriots. It’s funny how the more a team struggles, the more apt it is to commit penalties, which only compounds the situation.
• 185, 300: The total net yards by the Patriots and the Lions in the first half. The 185 number isn’t that bad, but the 300 certainly is. As if that doesn’t already turn your stomach if you’re a Pats fan, the Lions put up the 300 in about 2 less minutes of possession (13:57 to the Pats’ 16:03).