ALLEN PARK -- At this time last year, Matthew Stafford needed the bye week simply to rest up from all the vicious hits he was taking behind an injury-riddled line.

This year, he's resting a little easier.

No offensive line is limiting pressure on the quarterback better than the Lions this season. Detroit has allowed pressure on only 19.6 percent of drop-backs, according to ESPN. Entering Week 6, that was tied with the Panthers for the lowest mark in the NFL.

Stafford expressed gratitude for that improved protection a few weeks ago when told that he was the least-sacked quarterback in the league. The line has since slipped a little, allowing six sacks the past two games. Still, the sack rate on the season is less than a fourth of what it was for the line last year.

Most of the group is the same as it was last year, with the exception of Frank Ragnow at left guard. The first-round rookie has improved steadily this season, most noticeably in protecting the quarterback.

But health seems to be the biggest factor. Ragnow has joined left tackle Taylor Decker, center Graham Glasgow and right tackle Rick Wagner in playing every single snap this season -- 336 snaps in all. It's a huge shift from last season, when Glasgow was the only lineman who played more than 78 percent of the snaps and different combinations were the routine nearly every single week.

"It's a function of the offensive line in how well you play side-by-side, elbow-to-elbow," offensive line coach Jeff Davidson said. "I think the more time they get there elbow-to-elbow, the better they're going to get. There is some nonverbal communication that occurs and all those types of things that continued time is going to help."

Linemen will say that continuity tends to help the run blocking even more since a unit works in unison to open holes. That's been another major area of improvement this season, as Detroit ranks 16th in yards per carry after finishing dead last a year ago.

But it has helped the pass protection as well, even as simply as having four of the best blockers out there and performing healthy. Decker played last season after recovering from a torn labrum. Wagner had to come back from missing games as well.

The one exception to Detroit's strong health and continuity up front has been right guard T.J. Lang. It's a big exception, too. He has only played in three of the five games and left early in the Dallas game when he collided with another player and suffered a brain injury. He has been in the league's concussion protocol since then, though he has passed the first of five stages by the fact that he was able to be a part of the game planning for the win over the Packers, his former team.

Davidson is hopeful to get Lang back, but he has much progress to make in the protocol first. Kenny Wiggins has been filling in in the meantime.

The key will be keeping the other four linemen healthy as the season heads into the home stretch. The downside of having an early bye week is that the Lions will now play 11 straight games to finish the regular season.

But the more they keep the linemen they have out there and together, the better they'll protect Stafford and the more time he'll have to find talented receivers like Marvin Jones, Golden Tate and Kenny Golladay.

It's the plan the Lions envisioned when they spent so much money and high draft picks to build the front wall.

"When you're not trusting that you're protected, it's hard to play quarterback in this league. You're sort of guessing sometimes. When you're guessing, it's hard to really play well and play efficiently," offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said back in 2016.

"When you feel secured, when you feel sound, whether it be schematically or with fewer guys protecting their guys up front, it allows for a lot more efficient, good, solid quarterback play."