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The cheat sheet: Patriots’ offensive adjustments give defenses fits The main way to beat the Patriots is to not make it easy on them Womens Tavon Wilson Jersey , 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, 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 Tavon Wilson Jersey White , 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, 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 Kerry Hyder Jersey , 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 By the end of the day, the Detroit Lions’ 2018 season will be over. No more practices, no more gameplanning, no more On Paper, and no more Lions gameday until September. It’s been a rough transition year for Lions fans. Not only is it tough to see your team go from 9-7 contender to 5-10 irrelevancy, but the move from Jim Caldwell to Matt Patricia has been stark. Of course, Patricia’s poor start already has some Lions fans playing revisionist history about the Caldwell era, but there is something to be said for consistent competitiveness over... well, over whatever we have now. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of thinkpieces about what the future holds in Detroit, but for now Graham Glasgow Jersey , today’s Question of the Day is:What is the primary emotion you’ll feel once the Lions 2018 season is over? My answer: Disappointment with a little bit of relief.I’m never one to welcome the offseason. Even when the Lions went 0-16 in 2008, I watched to the very end because I live by the very simple code: Football > No Football. But this year has been a challenge. The last month of Lions football has been borderline unwatchable. The offense is toothless, and while the Lions defense is improving, they’re still allowing some bad quarterbacks do some things that bad quarterbacks shouldn’t be able to do. I don’t think I’ve been this unenthusiastic for a season finale in a long, long time. And so I’m sure there will be a brief moment in which I’m relieved that I don’t have to write another 1,500-word preview about this—let’s be honest—boring team. However, that will be extremely short-lived, as I realize the next four months involve endless speculation about free agency, and way more mock drafts than this world needs. Well, at least we’ll still have playoff games to watch before then... Your turn.Tweets from https://twitter.com/PrideOfDetroit/lists/lions-coverage