The Detroit Lions can be excused for feeling far more upbeat and loose in their locker room on Monday following Sunday night’s upset victory over the New England Patriots at Ford Field in front of a national television audience.
Not only did Detroit beat New England (against the predictions of nearly every pundit), but they frustrated quarterback Tom Brady into a rare poor performance. It was also new head coach Matt Patricia’s first win, against his former team no less. While the Patriots are left wondering what happened, the Lions are feeling much better about themselves after their 0-2 start to the year.
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“We won, we won,” receiver Golden Tate said . “So it’s kind of a sigh of relief. We worked so hard, going all the way back to April and finally get our first win under all this new stuff is big. Against a team like that that’s a yearly contender for the Super Bowl, it’s a pretty big deal.”
“Yesterday was probably the first time in a long time that I felt we played a complete team football game against a good team,” he continued. “That’s what you want “That’s how it looks in practice and it all started with a good week of practice. We had three good days of practice and it showed.”
The Lions will continue their work this week in preparation for Sunday’s matchup against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, and their aim is to return home at the .500 mark with a 2-2 record on the year. Of course, the feeling from Sunday night’s victory should help propel them moving forward.
“I think we should realize what it’s like to win, what it feels like to come in on a Monday after (winning) a game,” he said. “It makes those corrections a lot easier to deal with. Just keep building on it. Let’s see how far we can take this. We’ll see if we can play our best football from now on out.”
