In five weeks, many odd things have transpired but probably none more so than one statistic that has shocked the whole league. There are currently two undefeated NFL teams, one being the reigning Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers, who defeated the Atlanta Falcons 25-14 on Sunday.
However, the second team is quite startling considering that their current 5-0 record was projected to be 0-5 at this point of the season by experts.
This team, with a combined record of 8-40 in the last three years (not including the 2011 regular season), and the only team to lose all their games in the 16-game format in 2008, have so far been a puzzle that teams are struggling to solve. They are the Detroit Lions.
So what has launched the Lions to their best season start since 1956? It isn’t the running game, which hasn’t put forward the most stellar of performances, currently sitting 24th in the league despite running back Jahvid Best’s career high 163-yard game against the Chicago Bears on Monday.
It isn’t seventh-ranked their passing game led by 2009 1st overall pick Matthew Stafford, which though rather impressive at times, is not the reason for their perfect record.
It isn’t their stellar defence either which sits at an impressive fourth in average-points-allowed despite losing the services of highly rated defensive tackle Nick Fairley, drafted 13th overall in this year’s draft, who sat out the Lion’s first four games with a fractured left foot and gained his NFL debut on Monday’s victory.
The reason for the Detroit Lion’s extraordinary start is all of those things at the right time. The reason is clutch timing. They make the right passes at the right time, the right rushes at the right time, and the right defensive plays when they need to be made.
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