Sunday’s season finale made its mark in the Detroit Lions record books. The Lions added several new entries to the historical annals in the 37-30 win over the Green Bay Packers.
Among the team marks the Lions established in the Week 18 win, perhaps the most impressive is winning their third home game in a row for the first time since 2016. Two of those wins came against playoff teams, too.
Several of the other marks date back a lot longer, or are unprecedented in Lions history. That’s the case for the productively diverse passing attack, a sentence I did not expect to ever write about this team back in October…
When D’Andre Swift caught the second of his four passes on Sunday, it pushed the running back over the 60 reception mark. He joined WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (82) and TE T.J. Hockenson (61) in topping 60 catches. It’s the first time in franchise history the Lions have ever had a WR, TE and RB hit at least 60 catches. Keep in mind Hockenson and Swift each played in just 12 games, too.
St. Brown also made some history on his own. He became just the third rookie WR in NFL history to net at least 90 receiving yards and a touchdown catch in three straight games. You’ve probably heard of the other two who’ve done it: Odell Beckham Jr. and Randy Moss.
Another Lions receiver etched his name in the history books with his passing. Tom Kennedy set the team record for the longest touchdown pass thrown by a wide receiver. His 75-yard TD strike to Kalif Raymond is the second-longest pass by any NFL wide receiver in the last 40 years.
As a team, the Lions set the new NFL standard for fourth-down conversions in a season, both in attempts (41) and successful conversions (21). They pulled that off while also having punter Jack Fox produce the highest gross punting average for a season at 49.2 yards.
All the facts and figures are courtesy of the Lions’ PR department.
[vertical-gallery id=72390]