The Worksheet, a fantasy football overview by Rich Hribar, breaking down everything you need to know for the Week 5 Detroit Lions at New England Patriots Sunday afternoon game.
| Detroit | Rank | @ | New England | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Spread | -3 | ||
| 21.75 | Implied Total | 24.75 | ||
| 35 | 1 | Points/Gm | 18.5 | 23 |
| 35.3 | 32 | Points All./Gm | 24.5 | 22 |
| 67.3 | 9 | Plays/Gm | 60.3 | 21 |
| 68.5 | 29 | Opp. Plays/Gm | 61.8 | 13 |
| 6.5 | 1 | Off. Yards/Play | 5.7 | 11 |
| 6.5 | 31 | Def. Yards/Play | 5.6 | 18 |
| 41.64% | 14 | Rush% | 47.30% | 8 |
| 58.36% | 19 | Pass% | 52.70% | 25 |
| 43.07% | 20 | Opp. Rush % | 42.92% | 19 |
| 56.93% | 13 | Opp. Pass % | 57.08% | 14 |
- Games involving the Lions are averaging a league-high 70.3 combined points per game.
- The Lions have scored a touchdown on 37.5% of their drives, the highest rate in the league.
- Detroit has allowed a touchdown on 37.0% of opponent possessions, the highest rate in the league.
- 35.1% of the rushing plays against Detroit have resulted in a first down or touchdown, the highest rate in the league.
- The Patriots are first in the NFL in success rate per rush (51.0%).
- 89.1% of the carries by New England have gained positive yardage, the highest rate in the league.
- 91.1% of the carries against New England have gained positive yardage, the highest rate in the league.
Quarterback
Jared Goff: Even with missing a chunk of core players this past week, Goff was the highest-scoring fantasy quarterback (33.2 points). In a complete jailbreak chasing points throughout, Goff threw for a season-high 378 yards and 9.7 yards per pass attempt. It was the second time in four weeks that he threw four touchdown passes.
Goff now is fourth among all quarterbacks in passing points per attempt (.550) on the early season.
Given the Patriots quarterback situation, we may not run into a shootout like the opening four weeks of the season, but we cannot fully rule anything out with the Detroit defense.
New England has been solid to open the season, allowing 6.9 Y/A (13th) and just one QB1 scoring week through four weeks, to Lamar Jackson in Week 3 while also having Tua Tagovailoa and Aaron Rodgers on their schedule surrounding Mitchell Trubisky.
The Lions have been living around the 30-point mark, so it is odd to see them with such a low team total here (as well as underdogs), but there is implied regression and the matchup being tougher than this past week.
The Detroit offense has been good enough to consider Goff as a solid QB2 option with upside for more.
