Five games that will define the Detroit Lions season
By Ash Thompson
Week one: The New York Jets
On paper, the Lions should win this one but it is exactly the sort of game they have a history of faltering in. We need only to look at the Bengals and Ravens losses last year to find examples of the team letting an easy one slip past them. The Jets defense is a worthy foe, but the offense is fairly limp, particularly coming from behind. The Lions need to step out and grab this game from the outset. The Jets are a team that gets more hopeless the farther behind they fall. The Lions previous coaching staff lacked the ability to put their boot to an opponent’s neck and finish the job. We should see early on whether this one is different.
This is a prime time game so it will define the way that the team is perceived for the season. If Matt Patricia’s defense is going to revolutionize who the Lions are as a group: this is the day. The opponent is one that Patricia has seen twice every year for his entire career. This will be the first real example we have of how the defense is going to work. The Jets will have little or no actual tape of the Lions scheme. The Jets added Isaiah Crowell, Jermaine Kearse and a rookie quarterback to their subpar offensive unit. That is not going to get them to the promised land.
This will either be the dawning of a new age or a punch in the gut of every Lions fan that has bought in to the changes made this offseason. If the Lions drop this one, the SOL brand of Lions fans will be out with their knives sharpened.