The Detroit Lions were one of the biggest surprises during the 2011 season after snapping their streak of losing seasons and making the playoffs, but after struggling last year the team missed the postseason and now heads into 2013 looking to bounce back.
Matthew Stafford will be the primary focus on offense once again this season and after adding Reggie Bush to the backfield, the team may finally have found a consistent running threat that has been missing for years. The team has dealt with injuries at the running back position over the past few years and now that Bush is in the fold, they are hoping that he can open things up by catching passes out of the backfield. After playing with the Dolphins Bush showed that he could be an every down back and the Lions are hoping that it continues.
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Bush is in a unique situation heading to the Lions, as he is 28-years-old but he has not had the wear and tear of other running backs after splitting time while with the Saints, meaning his body is much fresher than other 28-year-old running backs. The team sees Bush as a weapon out of the backfield and with players like Calvin Johnson and Brandon Pettigrew on offense, head coach Jim Schwartz is expecting Stafford to put up numbers like he did in 2011 and not last season.
Stafford had an insane season in 2011, passing for 5,038 yards and 41 touchdowns with 16 interceptions while completing over 60 percent of his passes. Last season he was still excellent with 4,967 yards passing and 20 touchdowns, but that was a far cry from the numbers he put up the year before and he had more interceptions and was under 60 percent for his completion rate. Having Bush in the backfield likely will help those numbers and it could branch out to Johnson along with Nate Burleson and Ryan Broyles at the wide receiver position.
The Lions were a high scoring team over the past two seasons and while that likely will continue, general manager Martin Mayhew is looking to get the defense up to snuff this year in the NFC North. The team took defensive end Ziggy Ansah in the first round to join stars Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley on the defensive line and now the team wants to make sure they get to the quarterback more than last season. The Lions ranked second in the league in passing yards last season with over 300 per game and just 23rd in rushing with just over 100 per game. The team was ranked 16th in passing yards allowed per game and 16th in rushing yards allowed and now the coaching staff is hoping to improve all those numbers.
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