Lions 2025 Season in Review

Jared Goff threw 34 touchdown passes this year — second-most in the entire NFL. Let that sit for a second, because the team that quarterback led missed the playoffs. Here's what happened to the Lions offense when the schedule got serious, why a defense that piled up sacks still got beat in shootouts, and the one unit number that explains a nine-and-eight finish nobody in Detroit saw coming. Nine and eight. Out of the playoffs. First team on the outside in the NFC. The Lions didn't get muffed by a lack of firepower — they got muffed by a back half of the season where the losses kept landing in the same painful way.

Start with the team by the numbers, because the split is the whole story. Detroit's offense finished at plus 85.3 total expected points added — points generated above average across every snap — seventh in the league, 81st percentile. The defense came in at minus 10.3 expected points added allowed, and on defense negative is good — but 14th in the league is just barely better than average. Top-seven offense, middle-of-the-pack defense. The result? A team that hung 52 on the Bears, 44 on the Commanders, 44 on the Cowboys — then lost 41-34 to the Rams, 31-24 to the Packers, 29-24 to the Steelers. Boom-or-bust on one side, leaky on the other. Throw in just 19 takeaways on the season, 19th in the league, and you've got the recipe — explosive when it worked, no margin when it didn't.

Now let's talk about the passing offense, because this is where the Lions absolutely smashed. Total passing expected points added of plus 103.4, fifth in the league, 88th percentile. Per attempt, that's plus 0.17 — elite territory. Goff threw for 4,564 yards, 34 touchdowns against just 8 interceptions, and his adjusted net yards per attempt of 7.5 ranked third among qualified starters. His completion percentage over expected sat at plus 1.6 — one and a half points higher than the average quarterback on those same throws. Amon-Ra St. Brown was the engine: 117 catches, 1,401 yards, 11 touchdowns on 172 targets, a 32 percent target share. And the passing game powered every signature win — the 52-burger on Chicago in Week 2, the 38-30 road win in Baltimore in Week 3. The nagging number: 39 sacks allowed, a six-point-three percent sack rate. Middle of the pack — and in the losses, it hurt.

Now let's dig into the rushing offense, because this is where the picture flips. Total rushing expected points added: minus 23.5. That's 26th in the league, 22nd percentile. Bottom-of-the-league efficiency, full stop. The raw numbers look fine — 2,043 rushing yards on 443 carries, 4.6 a pop, 120 a game — but expected points added accounts for situation, and on too many early downs the run game stalled drives. The wild part? The talent was there. Jahmyr Gibbs went for 1,223 yards on 243 carries at five yards a clip with 13 rushing touchdowns — fifth in the league in rushing scores — and his rush yards over expected was plus 166.9, meaning he produced 166 more yards than the average back on those same carries. Boom-or-bust shape: the lane that opened up against the Buccaneers in Week 7 was the season in one snap — second quarter, first and ten from the Detroit 22, Gibbs takes it up the middle, 78 yards untouched for the score. He was the run game's ceiling. Everything around him on early downs was the floor.

Next up, the pass defense — the unit that confused people all year. The headline is great: 49 sacks, fourth in the NFL, 91st percentile. Aidan Hutchinson was a wrecking ball, and the front delivered 99 quarterback hits, 78th percentile. But the bottom line was just minus 4 expected points added allowed across the entire season of passing snaps. League average. So how does a defense that gets home that often finish only middle-of-the-pack against the pass? Two reasons. They allowed 31 passing touchdowns. And they generated just 13 interceptions. The takeaway version of the splash play wasn't there often enough. The pressure was elite. The finishing wasn't.

And the run defense — the quiet middle of the road. Detroit allowed 115.6 rushing yards a game and 16 rushing touchdowns, finishing right around league average — minus 6.4 expected points added allowed against the run, 47th percentile. Not gashed, not a brick wall. Week to week, the variance was real: steady in the Cleveland and Tampa wins, worn down late in the losses to Philadelphia and Minnesota. Steady-ish floor, no real ceiling. For a unit complementing a top-five passing offense, average against the run is survivable. Paired with a pass defense that didn't generate enough takeaways, it was just enough leak to cost them the playoffs.