Thanks to the Packers' loss to the Eagles Thursday night, the 2-0-1 Lions sit atop the NFC North.
They've been far from perfect through the first three weeks, including a brutal collapse against the Cardinals in Week 1, but they've won a pair of games they likely would have lost in the past.
Some will call them lucky. Others might say opportunistic. Either way, against the Chargers and then the Eagles, the Lions took advantage of an undermanned opponent and did enough to win. Different players stepped up in both games, particularly on offense. While neither performance was all that impressive, they were wins all the same.
Maybe the Lions are starting to figure something out in Matt Patricia's second season. NFL analyst Ross Tucker, who spent two seasons with the Patriots at the end of his playing career, compared this Detroit team to Bill Belichick's second team in New England in an interview with the Jamie and Stoney Show on 97.1 The Ticket.
"They have benefited the last couple weeks from some miscues by the teams they played, but they’ve made the plays that they have to make in all three phases," said Tucker. "You guys are going to think I’m going too far with this, but because I was in New England in '05 and '06 with Matt Patricia, they kind of remind me of the 2001 Patriots, the first Super Bowl they won where they didn’t seem like an overly talented team.
"I’m not saying the Lions, by the way, have any chance of going to the Super Bowl or winning it. I’m just saying it really has been different guys in all three different phases and close games and they kind of just make the play or two they have to make to win the game."
The 2001 Patriots, coming off a 5-11 season in Belichick's first year at the helm, actually started 1-3 and were 5-5 through Week 10. They didn't lose the rest of the way. Including the playoffs, they went 5-0 in games decided by three points or less.
To Tucker's point, they did seem to be greater than the sum of their parts. Those Patriots ranked 24th in the NFL in total defense, but sixth in scoring defense. 19th in total offense, but sixth in scoring offense. They didn't make all the plays, but they made the ones that mattered.
The comparison to the 2019 Lions might ring true on defense. While Patricia wasn't yet with the Pats in 2001, his defenses in New England were typically of the bend-but-don't-break variety. And his defense this year seems to fit that mold. The Lions, for what it's worth this early in the season, rank 23rd in total defense, 12th in scoring defense.
Expect them to operate in this manner Sunday as they try to slow down the Chiefs. The availability of Darius Slay will crucial; he should play despite a hamstring issue that's limited him at practice this week.
"Everything I’ve seen from the Lions, their defensive backs are playing really well," Tucker said. "Whether it’s Justin Coleman or Slay or Quandre Diggs, they’ve done a nice job. My guess is the Lions will try to make the Chiefs go the length of the field. They’re not going to let them get these big 70-, 60-, 50-yard plays deep down the field.
"In New England there’s a sign that says, 'Get the F back.' I think Patricia, his thought process is: If we’re going to die, die slowly. Make them go the length of the field and hope they get a penalty, hope they have a drop like the Eagles did or just Mahomes gets impatient, maybe throws some picks, but really focus on not letting them get the big play deep down the field. I think if you do that, you can at least slow them down and keep them in the 20s and hope that Mahomes has a couple mistakes."
"As for why the Patriots coaching tree has failed, I think it’s really simple. I think NFL players are really good at spotting a phony and spotting guys that aren’t authentic. I think a lot of the guys -- (Eric) Mangini, certainly Josh McDaniels -- because most of their experience if not all of it was with Belichick, I think they tried to be like Belichick, and I just think guys see right through that. I’m not there every day listening and talking to Matt, but it doesn’t seem like Matt is going that route where he’s totally Belichickian in every way. ... I just think Matt seems like he is being truer to himself, or based on my experience with him, that he would be truer to who he is rather than just trying to everything the same way as Belichick does."
"I think they thought that this offense would be more to Shea Patterson’s liking, but there’s a couple problems with that. One, it takes time. You just totally switch an offense, these are college kids, you only have so many hours with them. Number two, I just don’t think Shea Patterson is very good. I watched the entire Army game, I watched the Wisconsin game. I guess he was highly touted in high school and he’s got some ability, but man, I just don’t see it. At this point I’d rather see what McCaffrey can do, but that’s just me. I just don’t really see it with Shea Patterson, so those are the two big issues they have."