A day after their first win of the season Elandon Roberts Jersey , the change in the mood of the previously winless Detroit Lions was evident.In one corner of the locker room, linebacker Marquis Flowers and running back LeGarrette Blount engaged in a heated debate over whether Kobe Bryant or LeBron James was the greater basketball player."Just coming in today, it was a little bit different," Lions wide receiver Golden Tate said. "It's kind of a sigh of relief."Winning has a way of lifting the tension. Especially considering the quality of the opponent that the Lions beat.Sunday's decisive 26-10 victory over the New England Patriots was fashioned by a smothering performance from the Lions defense.The Lions held the Patriots to 209 yards, the fewest they've allowed since holding the New York Giants to 197 yards on Sept. 8, 2014."To finally get our first win, against a team like that, that's a yearly contender for the Super Bowl, it's a pretty big deal Shaq Mason Jersey ," Tate said.It was only the third time since 2007 that the Patriots produced fewer than 210 yards.Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who led the NFL with 4,577 yards passing last season, was limited to 133 yards."That is amazing," Lions cornerback Darius Slay said. "That is really amazing."In the first quarter, Detroit held a 126-5 edge in yards and a 12:30-2:30 advantage in time of possession. The first three drives of the game saw Detroit outgain the Patriots 196-13 and hold a 14-0 edge in first downs. The Lions outgained the Patriots 231-70 in the first half."We couldn't execute anything," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said.Lions running back Kerryon Johnson, who finished with 16 carries for 101 yards and became the first Lions running back to record a 100-yard rushing game since Reggie Bush against Green Bay on Nov. 28, 2013 Cheap Stephen Gostkowski Jersey , felt the defensive performance was what keyed the win."I think the defense was a lot more impressive than we were," Johnson said. "They had to shut down Tom Brady."Slay preferred to view their success story as a team effort."This was really all about the offense controlling the ball and keeping us rested," Slay said. "The best game plan against Tom Brady is keeping him off the field, and the offense kept putting up long drives."The Lions also handed much of the credit to coach Matt Patricia, the former Patriots defensive coordinator who earned his first win as an NFL head coach."He made everything smooth this week," Slay said. "He knows everything about that team and he made sure we knew it as well."Patricia wasn't about to take the pat on the back without returning it to his players."A week ago, the story was completely different as I stood here," Patricia said. "It was a good collective team effort. I think everybody that had a significant role, I thought they did a good job."Improving to 1-2 on the season while handing the defending AFC champion Patriots (1-2) their second straight loss Cheap Malcom Brown Jersey , the Lions said it won't matter if they don't carry the momentum into Sunday's game at Dallas against the Cowboys."Now that we have this win, it means nothing if we don't come back this week and have a great week of practice and go out there and handle business on the road against another good opponent," Tate said."We're happy we got that first win, but now we've got to put that game to bed. Now we've got to prepare like we did last week for the Dallas Cowboys on the road. Try to hit restart and go do it again." The Patriots have been at their best on offense this season when they've established the run and avoided facing a significant number of third downs.Achieving success in both areas could be difficult on Sunday against a Vikings team that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is expecting to offer "as big a challenge as we're going to have all year."The Vikings are the NFL's stingiest defense on third down, allowing opposing offenses to convert on a league-low 28 percent of their opportunities. They are also allowing only 94 rushing yards per game, which is tied for the fourth-fewest in the NFL.One of the reasons, McDaniels said, is Minnesota's ability to mix up its personnel and coverages. That is bolstered with talented players that are spread throughout its defense."They have a great front, they have linebackers that are very athletic http://www.patriotscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-stephon-gilmore-jersey , the team speed in general is tremendous," McDaniels said. "You're not going to outrun this group."The Patriots are 1-3 this season when converting on less than 33 percent of their third downs. The lone exception was their 27-20 season-opening win over the Texans. The Patriots went just 4 of 14 on third down (29 percent) in that game, but were able to take advantage of some early Houston mistakes in jumping out to a 24-6 lead.New England can't count on that against Minnesota.The Vikings' offense has been turnover-prone at times this season, but Minnesota enters Sunday's matchup with a plus-2 turnover margin overall. The Vikings were turnover-free in last week's win over Green Bay. It was their first game since their Week 7 road victory over the Jets in which they didn't have a giveaway.New England has had to adjust offensively in recent weeks as it played through the injury-related absences of its leading rusher Sony Michel (knee) and tight end Rob Gronkowski (ankle, back), one of Brady's favorite options on third down.Both were effective in their returns to the starting lineup against the Jets. Gronkowski caught his first touchdown pass since Week 1 and Michel rushed for a season-best 133 yards."They are one of the best teams at running the ball in the red zone and one of the best teams at stopping the run in the red zone," Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said."When you can run the ball in the red zone that typically leads to touchdowns because you don't get in third-and-longs and things like that where you've got to throw in a condensed area."The Patriots are also hopeful that the return of Rex Burkhead from injured reserve will ultimately provide a boost similar to those provided by Michel and Gronkowski. Burkhead was one of New England's go-to options in short-yardage situations last season. But he played only three games before suffering a neck injury against the Lions on Sept. 23. His status for Sunday is to be determined.While Burkhead's absence hasn't affected the Patriots' ability to score touchdowns in the red zone (24 TDs on 38 drives inside the 20), center David Andrews said they recognize room for improvement."(The Vikings have) got a great defensive front, I think they play really hard Cheap Joe Thuney Jersey , big, tough guys in there," Andrews said. "I don't know what the game plan is going to be yet, but whatever it is, we just have to execute it, do whatever we can up front to be at our best and be the most physical team."AP Pro Football Writer Dave Campbell in Eagan, Minnesota, contributed to this report.
