Tom Brady has seen the Lions up-close and personal twice this season. He was first on the call for their bludgeoning of the Cowboys in Dallas, and three weeks later for their smothering of the Packers at Lambeau.
The Lions haven't lost since September, riding an eight-game win streak that includes three victories by 38-plus points.
"I don't think you can say enough good things about what they've done in terms of that organization, the coaching, the quarterbacking, the defense, the running, the catching, the blocking," Brady said this week on the Let's Go! podcast with Bill Belichick and Jim Gray. "This is how I would envision every team would want to build a unit."
The Lions lead the NFL in scoring at 33.6 points per game, more than a field goal better than anyone else. They've put up 52 points in each of their last two home games. Brady said on FOX during the Lions' rout of the Cowboys that he'd love to quarterback Detroit's offense. He expanded on that thought this week:
"They're really good on the offensive line. They run the ball well. They really challenge the defenses on every down to figure out whether it's gonna be a run or a pass. And they've got home run hitters in the run game, they've got home run hitters in the pass game. So if you're a defender, I don't really know what you set your sights on. They make you so hesitant. Every time the ball is snapped, (the defense is) trying to read run or pass.
"Next thing you know, Jahmyr Gibbs got it and he's tearing through the defense. 'OK, we're gonna play the run.' Nope, it's a play action pass, Amon-Ra St. Brown's open over the middle of the field. 'Oh, we don’t really wanna deal with that.' It’s like, 'Oh god, here comes David Montgomery, boom, they got Penei Sewell and they’re just driving you off the line of scrimmage because you’re playing a little hesitant on the defensive line and now he’s three yards into the defense before he gets touched."
The Lions' offense is doing historic things by the week. It could well go down as one of the best of all time. St. Brown, Montgomery and Gibbs have already set an NFL record by scoring a touchdown in the same game eight different times, and this is just their second season together as a trio. As St. Brown said after Detroit's rout of Jacksonville last week, the Lions' identity is a mix of old-school and new-school football: "We can run the ball down your throat, we’re physical, and we can play the finesse game, too."
"They do such a good job of creating this uncertainty on defense, and that's where you want to play offensively," said Brady. "Every offense wants to anticipate, wants to play with an attitude, and I think they just do that better than everybody else. Barring any injuries on that team, the way they're playing -- and if they can continue with the work ethic and the humility to learn from their mistakes -- I mean, they are a tough team to beat.”
Their dominance has even been compared, at times, to the great Patriots teams led by Brady and Belichick. The Lions just take care of business every week. They formulate a game plan and execute it on Sunday, on both sides of the ball. For Belichick, "one of the things I really like about the way the Lions have played, is Coach Campbell has developed a physical mentality there."
"They need a yard, they have a mentality to get it. And they have a mentality to run the ball and clean the pile and just be physical. You can’t go into them and not button your chinstrap and be ready for a brawl, because they’ll make it one. And they try to do that on defense, too. But offensively, they’re one of the most physical teams that I've seen in the league. I think Coach Campbell has taken his personality and given it to the offense and that, along with all their skill, makes them tough," said Belichick.
In a conversation with Jared Goff earlier this season, Belichick called the Lions' offense "impossible to stop." Asked this week how we would even begin to game-plan against them as a defensive coach, he said, "It starts with big plays." The Lions lead the league in pass plays of 20-plus yards, while Gibbs and Montgomery can break off big runs at a moment's notice.
"They score a 70-yard touchdown, you’re done, you’re over there on the bench talking about it," said Belichick. "You gotta make them drive it 12, 14 plays, convert three or four third downs. Yeah, it’s tough, but if you don’t make them run more plays, you’ll never stop them. They hit those 20- and 30- yarders and they only have to run four or five plays to get in the end zone, they’re going to rack up a lot of points.
"You gotta eliminate the big plays and make sure that you play well on third down and in the red area, and obviously you’re going to have to score on offense. You just can’t let them go out and score 49 points and think you’re going to score 50. You’re not going to beat them 13-10."