The cheat sheet: Patriots’ offensive adjustments give defenses fits

The main way to beat the Patriots is to not make it easy on them Detroit Lions Hats , especially on offense. Unfortunately for the Lions, they’ve made mediocre offenses look sensational through the first two weeks.The Lions defense is tied for last in the NFL in points allowed, yielding 39 a game. The current top defense in the NFL, which belongs to the Los Angeles Rams, is surrendering just 6.5 points per game, and the NFL average defense is giving up about 22 points per game. Giving up nearly twice the NFL average in points per game just as Tom Brady and the Patriots roll into town is downright terrifying.“We certainly have things that we need to fix first and foremost, to make sure that those are taken care of before we play the Patriots,” Patricia said this week in his conference call with reporters. “That’s the biggest thing for us right now, that we just try to get the problems that we’ve had so far handled, so when we walk into the game Detroit Lions Hoodie , they’re still not an issue this weekend.”The Lions have a lot to clean up and must do it quickly. Despite missing key offensive and defensive players, the Patriots are not a team you can take lightly. What consistently impresses me (and frustrates opposing defenses) is how good the Patriots are at setting up certain offensive looks and making adjustments based on what the defense gives them.Here’s a look at how the Patriots did this last week against the Jaguars:They run plays, see how the defense reacts, and then adjust accordingly. If the Lions aren’t careful those adjustments will go for big plays on Sunday.Opponent snapshotThe Patriots haven’t exactly hit their stride yet this season. So far they barely eked out a Week 1 win over the Houston Texans after having an 18 point lead, and lost in a relative beatdown at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 2.So what team is going to show to Ford Field on Sunday?“We’re going to try as hard as we can to make up that ground as quickly as possible,” Belichick said at a press conference earlier this week. “It’s about where it usually is at this point in the season, just not at the point you like it to be at. It’s early, and there’s a long way to go. Hopefully, we can keep improving every day and every week.”Patriots’ biggest threat Tom BradyI don’t care how old he is. I don’t care how many quarrels he has with his head coach. I don’t even care how many Super Bowl rings he has. The only thing I care about Tom Brady is how effective he is on Sunday. Because, as I see it Customized Detroit Lions Jerseys , he’s going to have to put this team on his back to stand a chance this season—even against the Lions.Brady is so smart and effective at taking advantage of what teams want to do on defense. The trick for the players is to not overthink the situation on the field. “With his level of expertise and his level to just understand defense, understand coverage, understand location, run-stick, I mean it’s the full package,” Patricia said. “I think you’re also in a situation though where people go out and try to do too much or trying to over-disguise something, you put yourself in a bad situation, [and] he’s going to find that pretty quick.”Patriots’ weak linkRun defenseThe Patriots are 27th in the NFL in run yards allowed per game (135.5 per game). While the Patriots are traditionally a dominant team, run defense is not their strong suit. Typically, the Patriots are able to make up for poor run defense by playing with the lead. This forces team to throw the ball more often and abandon the run. The only way the Lions can exploit the Patriots’ lackluster run defense is to control the clock and successfully run a balanced offense. Bottom lineBill Belichick is 14-8 all-time against his former assistants.That stat isn’t shocking. We all know how Belichick assistants have fared as NFL head coaches. But it certainly isn’t comforting either. The Lions will need to play a near flawless game if they stand any chance of winning. There won’t be many secrets between these two teams so everything will come down to execution—which doesn’t bode too well for the Lions.PredictionPatriots 31 Lions 24 Jarrad Davis played arguably the best game of his career in Week 7 against the Miami Dolphins. The oft-maligned linebacker was all over the field and was a positive against both the pass and the run and played a huge role in the team’s defensive success.A majority of Davis’ struggles last season were mental. He always had the physical talent needed to succeed but he never could get his head in the right place. The linebacker was awful at diagnosing plays and found himself lost way to often. If the game against Miami is any indication www.authenticsdetroitlions.com , the game is mentally starting to click for him. Biting hard and getting out of position on play action plays was a huge problem for him as a rookie. He would get to eager to chase down the running back and end up way out of position on the ensuing pass. This was not an issue for him against Miami at all. Davis is lined up on the edge here. His job is to either set the edge against the run or grab running back Frank Gore in man coverage. Quarterback Brock Osweiler fakes hand off to Gore and the running back escapes out to the flat. Last season we would often see Davis crash inside to play the run in these situations. Instead, this time he recognizes the fake and breaks outside. Gore makes a quick catch in the flat and Davis is all over it. The linebacker recognizing the play and quickly getting all the way out to the sideline shows a huge improvement not only between last season and this, but growth within the past few weeks. His previous struggles in coverage were more a matter of his own poor positioning rather than him getting beat. With the game seemingly having slowed down for him this season, his positioning is better making him less of a nuisance in coverage. With Davis mentally more checked in, his physical talents truly shine. On this play, he came out of deep prevent coverage to chop down a receiver after the catch.On a third-and-17, the Lions dropped deep into zone coverage. They took away all of Osweiler’s deep options and forced him into a short check down to Kenyan Drake. The linebacker reads the play and quickly flies up field to cut down Drake after the catch. Once he’s got himself heading the right direction, Davis has the speed and raw force to barrel through runners. Both of the above plays are also good examples of Davis’ improved open-field tackling, which was something else he has previously struggled with.Davis has rarely played outside of his natural middle linebacker position, but Detroit seems to want to move him around the formation this season. In an above play he came out of a defensive end position and dropped into pass coverage. On this play Detroit Lions T-Shirt , he lines up there again and sets the edge in run defense. He comes off of the edge on this play and crashes down on the pulling guard. Osweiler hands the ball off to Drake and the running back can’t get the edge. Davis forces the ball carrier into the traffic inside and the play is stopped for no gain. This is not a play that registers for Davis in the box score, but his strength on the edge contained a dangerous open-field runner.Davis has also been a member of the Lions third-down pass rush package. The “NASCAR” package, as they are usually referred to, usually features a group of speedsters who can pin their ear backs and go full throttle towards the quarterback on passing downs. Without Ezekiel Ansah active and with Kerry Hyder listed as a healthy scratch, Davis got the nod. On this play, Davis is lined up on the interior in a two point stance. He and defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand run a stunt to get pressure on Osweiler. via GfycatDavis crashes into the interior of the of the Dolphins offensive line. He occupies three lineman and creates space for Hand to get around him and get a run at the quarterback. Detroit sent Davis out with the speed rushers throughout the game. He often would line up on the edge and either speed rush or drop into coverage. While he is not the most effective third-down pass rusher, his use on these key plays shows the Lions’ increased trust in the second-year player. It was only one game, but Davis was nearly perfect Sunday. He didn’t make any blatant errors and he was great in pass coverage. The Lions also have found ways to play him in different spots adding to his overall utility. Davis has clearly grown as a player under direction of new head coach Matt Patricia and defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni. Now they have found new ways to use him in the defense, the possibilities to put his physical gifts to use are endless.