When the Patriots have the ball: Pass rush from Patricia? Why start now?

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WHEN THE PATRIOTS HAVE THE BALL
Did you think it was maddening when the Patriots – under defensive coordinator Matt Patricia – didn’t get after quarterbacks? Well, on Sunday, you might be muttering, “So NOW the guy creates a pass rush...” The Lions have eight sacks in two games and got to Jimmy Garoppolo six times last week. No matter how delusional Patriots fans may have become since he was traded, Jimmy Garoppolo is no Tom Brady. Detroit’s not getting home six times against the Patriots. 

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Still, it’s been aggressive and it’s been getting home with four rushers a fair amount of time even though defensive end Ziggy Ansah’s been lost for all but 19 snaps so far this season. Given his background in the Patriots system, Patricia and his defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni will have the Lions attuned to a lot of what New England likes to do. So it’s an execution game. And that was an issue last week in Jacksonville that left Tom Brady lamenting, “It was us...” 

Lions corner Darius Slay is dealing with a concussion and may be down. Ansah, corner Jamal Agnew and linebacker Eli Harold have all had limited participation this week with various injuries. It’s hard to predict what Josh Gordon will bring in his first week. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Brady went to him early with an easy pitch-and-catch throw to let Detroit know they will go to him. But the bigger impact he may have will be in the trickle-down effect he has on coverage. If he’s out there, you can’t sell out covering Gronk with one-to-three defenders.

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