New England Patriots – Page 7

Lions Matthew Stafford, receivers look to get back their deep ball connection

Deep ball has been big part of offense in the past

ALLEN PARK — All eyes are always on the quarterback.

With the Lions 0-2 and Matthew Stafford not looking like his usual efficient self, the quarterback and the offense don’t look close to panicked.

Stafford, who has passed for 4,000 yards in each of the last seven seasons, has decent numbers in the opening losses. But on Sunday at San Francisco he overthrew four long passes. It’s not like him to miss on all of those.

Stafford and the offense need to perform better when they face the New England Patriots on Sunday night at Ford Field.

“I think I just have to throw it to where they can catch it. It’s as simple as that, right? Just have to make sure I give them a chance,’’ Stafford said on Thursday. “There were some going back to last year where I probably didn’t throw the perfect ball but either Marv (Marvin Jones Jr.) or Kenny (Golladay) or GT (Golden Tate) or whoever it was went up and made a great play, right? And that’s part of it, too. I have to make sure I give those guys chances, No. 1, and then when they do beat those guys just make sure I put it on them.”

Wide receivers Marvin Jones Jr., and Golden Tate said they will continue to work on connecting with Stafford. Oh, and it’s not all on Stafford.

“I think we all could have done something better — better releases, better route running. I have confidence that from here on we’ll complete more of those, it’s kind of what we’ve done best over the years I think,’’ Tate said on Thursday. “It’s going up to get those 50-50 balls and executing explosives that’s one thing we take a lot of pride on it. That’s something I expect us to be better at.’’

They worked on it at practice this week just like they always do.

“Obviously, we were the best last year on that. But it’s a new year, and we have to keep working on that, and we’ll get it done,’’ Jones said this week. “We just have to continue to work on it. And the more we work on it, the better we’ll get at it.”

Stafford had zero interceptions in Week 2 after four picks in the opening game. Throwing too deep is usually safer than not throwing deep enough.

“Less bad is going to happen if you’re overshooting it, but less good as well. It’s a fine line. I’d love to just hit them all in stride, that’d be great,’’ Stafford said. “That’s what I plan on doing. But if it doesn’t happen, then our guys have to go up there and protect it if it’s short. A chance to make a play but make sure nothing bad happens. And I have to try to do my best to make sure that I’m giving them chances.”

Statistics don’t tell the whole story. After two games Stafford is ranked sixth in the NFL in passing yards with 633. Nothing wrong with that.

The Lions’ offense in two games has averaged 383 yards per game. The passing offense (314.5 yards per game) ranked sixth in the NFL while the rushing defense averaged 68.5 yards per game and is 30th in the NFL.That last statistic is a bit misleading since the Lions were so far behind in both games, they had to stick to the pass in hopes of catching up.

One noticeable improvement is the Lions are gaining an average of 4.2 yards per carry which is tied for 12th in the NFL. In 2017 that average — a key stat to explain the anemic run game — was 3.4 yards per carry, the worst in the NFL.

No one seemed too worried about this offense with the return of coordinator Jim Bob Cooter. However, in the opening two games the execution has come up short.

New England’s defense isn’t all of that, but the Patriots have this habit of figuring out a way to win.

Lions Glover Quin on facing Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and getting ‘D’ in gear

Lions looking for first win

ALLEN PARK – When he played in Houston, safety Glover Quin faced New England’s Tom Brady often.

So when the two line up at Ford Field on Sunday night, it won’t be a first.

The Lions (0-2) are looking for their first win this season while the Patriots (1-1) are coming off a loss at the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Lions’ defense is adjusting to a new scheme under first-year coach Matt Patricia, formerly New England’s defensive coordinator. The relationship could add a little drama to the nationally televised game, although both coaches are down-playing it.

Three thoughts from Quin:

1. Quin, who is 32, said he is fine physically yet in the first two games, he looked just a bit off on his timing. He says it’s mental. The defense is learning a new scheme and has to adjust to react quickly. No time for thinking. “When they say games are won or lost by ‘this much’ it’s literally true. Having to think and then go, opposed to just going is the difference in making a pass break-up and making an interception, or making an interception and giving up a catch. Or, being one step closer and making a tackle or being one step farther and missing a tackle is literally just like that,’’ Quin said, snapping his fingers. That said, he knows the team has to get its act together quickly, it can’t be patient while getting used to new methods. “Hopefully Sunday we’re all on board ready to roll,’’ Quin said.

2. It’s not unusual for the Patriots and Tom Brady to take a few games into the season to get warmed up. “I’ve faced Tom Brady a few times. Throughout the years he’s always been a good tough competitor. It’s always fun playing against him. (He’s) very fiery,’’ Quin said. “When you’re playing him in New England it’s a lot funnier, it’s quiet so you can hear him when he’s going off on his O-linemen and his wide receivers telling them to move and stuff.

“But he’s made some amazing throws, some amazing plays and he’s a great quarterback. I got a ton of games where I played him from earlier in my career when I was in Houston in the AFC — playing him in the regular season, playing him in the playoffs. Since I’ve been here we’ve played once in the regular season and I think we played them twice in the preseason. Last year they jumped out on us like 20-something at halftime,’’ said Quin. It was the third game of the preseason (the dress rehearsal) and the Patriots, who started Brady, jumped out to a 24-0 lead and won 30-28. Quin’s only preseason interception in his 10-year career came courtesy of Brady in that game.

3. Patriots’ tight end Rob Gronkowski, who is third all-time in touchdown catches by a tight end (70) in the NFL, scored one touchdown in the opener and none in the loss at Jacksonville in Week 2. Gronkowski, who was limited in Thursday’s practice with an ankle injury, has nine receptions, averaging 15.3 yards per catch. He is always a handful. “We’ve got to all recognize where he’s at, we’ve got to all be tuned into what we’re doing,’’ Quin said. “He’s been with Tom (Brady) for a lot of years so they have a good rapport on the field. They play really well together. He’s big, he’s physical, he’s faster than people think — he runs kind of weird but he moves, he moves fast. He’s not real shifty, you don’t have to be when you’re that big. He has big strong hands, great hands, great body control, when you’re got a guy that big, I don’t know if you guys realize, when you go against a guy show’s 6-6, 260-however (268) big he is. Those guys are big, it’s like guarding Ziggy (Ansah). And he can catch, great ball skills. And Tom trusts him, when you trust a guy you have to go to him.’’

Sunday’s game puts Lions’ Matt Patricia and Patriots’ Bill Belichick in spotlight

Both coaches insist it’s about the game, not their relationship

ALLEN PARK — Whether they like it or not, much of the focus leading into Sunday night’s Lions home game against the New England Patriots will be focused on the coaches.

Bill Belichick hired Patricia in 2004 as an offensive assistant and kept him around until the Lions hired him as their 27th head coach in February.

Neither one wants to talk much about the past. In typical coach-speak, they’re focused on the matchup between the Lions (0-2) and Patriots (1-1). Kickoff is 8:20 p.m. on Sunday at Ford Field.

Belichick is 4-1 against the Lions since his first year as head coach in New England. The only loss was on Thanksgiving in his first season (2000) when the Lions won, 34-9. Drew Bledsoe was the quarterback for the Patriots who went 5-11 that season. Charlie Batch led the Lions who finished 9-7 in 2000.

“This is about the Patriots and the Lions. And each of us has a part in the game obviously, and I have all the respect in the world for Matt, Bob (Quinn), Mrs. (Martha Firestone) Ford, who I worked for. Great people in the Lions organization,’’ Belichick said in a conference call on Wednesday. “But in the end, it’s about the two teams competing and that’s what the game is about. Hopefully we can go out there and do a good job. So, that’s what we’re going to try and do.”

Belichick, who has won five Super Bowl rings in New England, coached with the Lions early in his career as assistant special teams coach in 1976 and receivers coach in 1977. (By the way, the Lions were 6-8 both of those seasons.)

Patricia, who won three Super Bowl rings as the Patriots’ defensive coordinator, would also rather focus on the Lions instead of his New England ties.

“New England is New England. We’re trying to build Detroit here. We’re trying to do the best thing we can for the Lions with this team and the players that we have,’’ Patricia said. “There’s certain philosophies that I think carry over as me as a coach and what I believe in. Whether that’s New England or Syracuse or wherever I was before, college or whatever the case may be, just things that I believe in.’’

The comparison has been made for three years since the Lions hired general manager Bob Quinn from the Patriots where he had spent 16 seasons in a variety of roles. The talk intensified when he hired Patricia to replace Jim Caldwell who was fired after posting a 9-7 record in 2017.

Belichick didn’t want to get into too many details about his relationship with Patricia. He wouldn’t say if he saw some of himself in Patricia 14 years ago when he first hired him.

“I try not to evaluate those kinds of things. Look, every player and every person is different and every coach is different. No two of us are the same, even identical twins. So, everything is different, I really don’t worry about that,’’ Belichick said. “I just try to do the best job that I can in the role that I have.”

Belichick said there was no magic when he first hired Patricia. He makes it sound like it was a just another hire.

“We had openings, he was recommended, we talked to a number of people and we thought he was the best fit. And he did a great job and continued to expand his role,’’ Belichick said. “He did a number of things in the organization. He started off as an offensive assistant on the offensive line and ended up as the defensive coordinator—and there were a lot of things in between.”

Patricia is growing and learning at his first stint at any level as a head coach. Of course, he’s taking some of what he learned from New England and trying to transform the culture at the Lions’ organization. He’s figured out at least one thing about Belichick since he’s been a head coach.

“I would say the only thing that you can’t really get a perspective on until you sit in this seat would be, and I think I’ve mentioned this before, is just how much time that (Belichick) would give me in particular and the other coaches. You walk in his office and he might be doing a thousand things. You have no idea. And your question is the most important question in the entire world, so you have to get it answered right away,’’ Patricia said. “And he would just stop and explain it, teach it, coach it. And I’d move on, I’d go handle my situation. And I’m sure that he just got stockpiled with everything else that was walking through his door, I slowed him down a little bit, I’m sure, at that point. Which you think you kind of realize, but you really don’t realize just how much is coming at you.”