[ad_1]
DETROIT – New coaches are supposed to have an advantage. There are not many movies about what they will do, what they call. Especially when it's a head coach for the first time, such as Matt Patricia was Monday night.
Still, the New York Jets seemed to know everything that was coming. They did it on the ground in a 48-17 dredge. And then they explained exactly how they succeeded.
It's ugly for the Detroit Lions. Of course, offenses and defenses never want to be predictable. But if it happens at week 8 or 9 or 10, this is more understandable. There is a movie. Trends. If a team detects you well, you say OK, you make adjustments and you continue.
But during the first week of year 1 of a new diet, it's almost unfathomable.
"We were calling their games while he was getting up to the line," said Jets linebacker Darron Lee after the game. "… We knew his signals. We knew everything. It's just a preparation for the defense. "
Lee, who had two interceptions, was not the only Jets player to echo this feeling – on either side of the ball. Jets cornerback Morris Claiborne called New York's preparation "one of the best I've ever known" and they realized that many things had been offended by the Lions.
It was obvious during Lee's first interception, where he sat and waited for the Lions to race with Theo Riddick to execute one of his most used routes: the Angular Road. Lee waited, waited and went in front of Riddick to pick up Matthew Stafford and return him for a touchdown.
"One of the great things we as a defense we want to talk about, and when we were on the ground, some guys saw some things that appeared in reports and things like that," Claiborne said. "They call that and have everyone on the same page, so we have at least some idea of what's going to happen or what they're trying to beat us or what they're trying to do to us."
The Lions could not hurt the Jets' defense except when they went to a tempo-based attack, something Stafford had a habit of living. But when they avoided the tempo, the Lions could not really fool New York.
Claiborne, when asked if they were predictable – a description inducing a thrill for opposing coordinators – would not go that far. But did he know more of a typical game from week 1 than he played in the past? "I think you can tell," said Claiborne. Which, more than anything, is a problem.
It was not just the Lions offense that had a certain degree of predictability – something that was clearly true. Defense too.
"The game that was a touchdown race, we actually saw this game against the Oakland Raiders early in the pre-season," said offensive tackle Jets Kelvin Beachum. "It was exactly the same front, almost the same exact game, honestly.
"It worked for us. It worked for Oakland early in the year.
If you're supposed to be pretty basic in pre-season – something that most coaches and players recognize – what does it mean about the regular season, when you're supposed to plan your matches and you to prepare?
For the Jets, it was an extra layer of understanding – and considering the next two opponents for the Lions, it could be devastating, as San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is very familiar with Matt Patricia's defenses since his passing in New England. Lions face the Patriots in the third week.
Beachum, like Claiborne, stopped before using the word "P", but …
"You knew that," said Beachum. "The thing is, it's the same defense that New England has run, you know where they are going to be, and we've outdone them tonight, it's a type of weekly match.
"We have been able to prosper and win in this particular situation."
The Lions could not. Whatever sort of.
Patricia's message to her team Monday night was to look in the mirror and find ways to do the job better. It's a feeling that many players have echoed. It should start and start with the head coach, who could not do anything right.
There were indicators that this could happen. A month ago, defensive lineman Ricky Jean Francois was sitting in his locker after the second pre-season game and complained about the team's lack of technique and the fact that they had to fix it. Quick. Otherwise, the season will be long.
A month later, he was standing in front of the same locker. Said similar things. There was no real answer to why it seemed that progress had not been made.
"There was no," said Jean Francois. "But as I said, we have 16 games, so what can not be done, so we really have to do it now. Because everything counts now.
That's done. If these corrections do not occur, this long year that François was talking about in August will remain a long time back.
Source link
