The NFL season doesn’t technically have a “quarter” of a year anymore with the move to 17 games. And because just one 15-minute period of football in Week 5 equals the actual quarter-season mark, it’s easy to just go back to the old habit of dividing the season into four even quarters of games.
Detroit went 0-4 in that old-school quarter. The Lions got there by playing one good half and one terrible half in each game, with some variance on the “good” from week to week. The team is heavily reliant on young and inexperienced players at many positions, presenting a real challenge for rookie head coach Dan Campbell and his staff.
Here’s how those players grade out in the primary categories at Pro Football Focus through the first four weeks, along with the top three players in each category for the Lions (minimum 40 snaps — 10 per game).