When it comes to Super Bowl talk at this time of the year, the Detroit Lions are rarely (if ever) mentioned. That should not come as much of a surprise as the Lions have never even played in a Super Bowl much less hoisted the Lombardi Trophy.
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But following the New England Patriots 13-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII, Bill Belichick credited Lions head coach Matt Patricia for the Patriots defensive gameplan that completely shut down the Rams offense.
“We felt like if we could make them drive it, make them earn it, similar to what the Lions did,” Belichick said in one of his postgame press addresses, as heard on the CBS radio feed. “Make them run a lot of plays and if we get them in 3rd down, we felt like we could get them off the field.”
Belichick just said their defensive gameplan was “similar to what the Lions did,” talking about taking away the explosive plays, especially off of play-action on early downs, forcing the Rams to just drive it and earn it.
— New Millenium Cyanide Kep (@theoriginalkep) February 4, 2019
When the Lions hosted the Rams in Week 13, Patricia had a defensive game plan that limited an explosive Rams' offense until a couple of 4th quarter touchdowns. The goal was to take away the big plays and to make the Rams work for everything. That's exactly what the Patriots defense did to help them win yet another Super Bowl.
Many Lions' fans are not happy with Patricia's first year with the team, but Belichick admitting to using a game plan similar what his former defensive coordinator used earlier in the year is certainly something to be happy about.
BONUS CONTENT:
Drysdale: Full Detroit Lions 2019 ‘Perfect’ NFL Mock Draft Vol. 1
Polar Vortex 2019!
What better time than to write up my first full Detroit Lions 2019 NFL Mock Draft?
Let me begin by saying these mock drafts are extremely fluid as free agency will play a huge role in what direction Lions’ GM Bob Quinn decides to go in the NFL Draft.
For example, I personally believe that acquiring an edge rusher should be the number one priority this offseason and I would have to believe that Quinn agrees with that. But if he goes out and signs a big name DE such as Trey Flowers out of New England (yes, please!), the chances of the Lions drafting an edge rusher with their No. 8 pick in the first round would drop, though it is still possible.
This volume of my full Detroit Lions mock draft focusses on what the current needs are at this moment in time as if not a single free agent is signed.
So, with that understood, let’s take a look at Vol. 1 of my full Detroit Lions 2019 ‘Perfect’ NFL Mock Draft.
