Last season Matthew Stafford became one of only five quarterbacks in NFL history to surpass 5,000 passing yards in one season. He finished with 5,038.

Here are three reasons Stafford might not reach the 5,000-yard mark in the 2012 season. (Hint: It has nothing to do with his health.)

1. The Lions don’t particularly like the word “balanced” to describe their offense, but they want to have a better running game which will give them more offensive choices. If Jahvid Best, Mikel Leshoure and Kevin Smith stay healthy this should happen. Big if, but even if two of the three could stay healthy the running game will get a huge boost.

2. Don’t get me wrong, I think Stafford will have another excellent season — was going to say Pro Bowl season but remembered he was overlooked. He will just have more options.

3. This season perhaps the Lions won’t be in so many situations where they are so far down that they are forced to throw to catch up. They will be too talented to fall in a deep hole early.

(Until the start of training camp, the Lowdown lists will appear daily, Monday through Friday. Follow @PaulaPasche on Twitter. Email her at Paula.Pasche@oakpress.com.)