The Lions fell behind the Bears 26-0 on their way to a third straight loss by a double-digit margin in Week 10 and that leaves them with a 3-6 record in nine games under first-year head coach Matt Patricia.With an offensive line that’s allowed 16 sacks the last two weeks and a defense that isn’t consistently making stops
Frank Ragnow Jersey , some might believe that things have gone off the rails in Detroit. Whether that’s the case or not, Patricia said the team isn’t panicking about the way things have played out.“I believe in this team and we’re going to work real hard every single day,” Patricia said, via the
Detroit Free Press. “I think the guys in that room have a great understanding of what they are and what we’re going to do as a team. We’re not hitting the panic button right now or anything like that right now. We’re just trying to get better. I think that’s our biggest thing is just try get some improvement.”It’s a test of a coach to find a way to pull things together when it seems like things are coming apart at the seams and this will be Patricia’s first chance to show he’s able to do that. The Lions have three straight home games, but stopping the slide won’t be easy.The Lions will be facing the Panthers and Bears in a five-day span with the Rams visiting in Week 13, so Patricia and company have their work cut out for them in the coming weeks.The Cheat Sheet: Lions must beat Jets’ blitz-heavy defense The first thing the Detroit Lions should do as they head into Week 1 is prepare for the New York Jets to blitz.And blitz a lot.Todd Bowles’ team is built around the idea of disrupting opposing offenses with five or more guys rushing on pass plays. In 2017
http://www.authenticsdetroitlions.com/cheap-tavon-wilson-jersey��, the Jets stuck to this philosophy, blitzing on 35 percent of plays (fifth most in the NFL). In fact, the Jet were a top five blitzing team on every down last season. All that blitzing didn’t always lead to success though. The Jets were just 18th defensive DVOA rank according to Football Outsiders.That should change this year as the Jets went out and signed the top free agent cornerback this offseason. They brought in former Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson on a whopping five year, $72 million deal—hoping it’s enough to turn around a mediocre defense.Johnson isn’t coming off his best season though. He had his worst season by both yards allowed and yards per reception per Pro Football Focus. And he ranked 35th in completion percentage (57.3 percent) and 36th in passer rating (79.8) while in coverage. But that doesn’t mean he still can’t be an elite cornerback. Despite middle-of-the-pack numbers in other areas, Johnson only gave up one touchdown last season and he continues to break up more passes each year over the past four seasons.This should make for a great matchup against Marvin Jones Jr. Jones, who emerged as one of the league’s top deep threats last season
http://www.authenticsdetroitlions.com/cheap-glover-quin-jersey��, boasted elite numbers on contested targets in 2017.The key matchup this week is if the Lions offense can take advantage of an aggressive, blitz-heavy team right out the gates. I could see the Lions offense starting slow and then putting together a nice second half once they see what the Jets’ strategy is on defense.Opponent snapshotTodd Bowles is just 20-27 with no playoff appearances after three seasons with the Jets. This is most likely his make-or-break season as the head coach. If he can’t turn around the Jets this year, he’s mostly like going to be ousted for a young, up-and-coming offensive mind to pair with the Sam Darnold. Jets’ biggest threat Sam DarnoldI know he’s a rookie and he’s playing in his first NFL game, but he’s also the Jets’ best hope of winning the game. If the Lions let Darnold beat them with his arm, they’re in for a long night. And the rookie signal caller has been outplaying his peers so far this preseason.After joint practice sessions against the Jets earlier this summer
Youth Ricky Wagner Jersey , Washington cornerback Josh Norman came away impressed, and compared Darnold with some of the better young quarterbacks in the NFL.”It’s like, dang,” Norman said. “You get rookies in here, and you try to mess them with a little bit and bait them a little bit into thinking they’re throwing a route, and you can make a play and he’s not having it. It’s so crazy to see that at an early age. Dak [Prescott] has that
http://www.lionsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-t.j.-lang-jersey��, Carson [Wentz] has that...and he’s so far impressed me and I didn’t want him to.”The Lions don’t have much NFL film on Darnold, but I fully expect Patricia to dial up some looks to try and confuse the rookie. Look for offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates to add rollouts and bootlegs to the game plan in order to give his young quarterback only half the field to read.Jets’ weak linkNo defined pass rusherThe Jets lack a true pass rush at defensive end and outside linebacker. They just signed former 2014 second-round pick Jeremiah Attaochu, who was recently cut by the 49ers. There are a lot of similarities between the Jets and Lions here. The only difference is the Lions can (for now) tout a healthy Ezekiel Ansah. The Jets are going to struggle to create pressure with their front four and will almost certainly be forced to blitz to force the ball out of Stafford’s hand early. Bottom lineIf the Stafford is given time and the Lions can stay out of third-and-long situations, they can move the ball and score on the Jets’ defense. The keys for the Lions will be stopping the blitz and rattling Sam Darnold. If they can do those two things I expect Lions fans to go to sleep happy on Monday night. PredictionLions 24 Jets 16
