3 Silver Linings Heading Into Week 2 for Detroit Lions
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Following the Detroit Lions epic collapse against the Chicago Bears, it was quite the challenge to find silver linings.
A glaring factor remains Detroit's difficulty closing out games and ineffectiveness while in man coverage late in crunch time.
Despite many struggles that Matt Patricia and Co. must overcome, there emerged several silver linings that Detroit's roster can build upon.
Here are three silver linings Detroit must build upon heading into Week 2 of the NFL regular season:
1.) Protecting Matthew Stafford
Detroit's offensive line had a stellar performance against the Chicago Bears.
From opening holes for newly acquired Adrian Peterson to ensuring Detroit's franchise passer remained upright, the offensive line stepped up and performed at a high level.
With Green Bay struggles against the run, there may be opportunities for Detroit to take advantage this week.
2.) Adrian Peterson can be highly productive in his offense
Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell immediately utilized Peterson's skillset effectively against the Bears.
In his debut, Peterson finished with 14 carries and 93 rushing yards.
“I thought he gave great effort, I thought he gave great energy. I think the guys -- they like to be out there with him and they know he’s going to work hard and he’s going to go hard every single play," Patricia said Sunday following Detroit's 27-23 loss to Chicago. "So that was good to see. I really thought he made some tough runs. I thought he brought a physical style to the run game and that was encouraging.”
3.) Matthew Stafford and T.J. Hockenson's growing connection
Matthew Stafford and his young tight end continue to be productive out on the football field.
Patricia acknowledged on Thursday that Stafford and Hockenson typically take some extra time to go work on the nuances of routes, coverage looks and gameplan information.
The extra work has paid off during games out on the football field.
"Certainly in some of the gameplan plays that we had, I thought were well-designed to try to get T.J. the ball, and some of those situations were really good," Patricia said Thursday in his pre-practice media session. "Those guys spend a lot of time on them in the meeting room, but on the field during the extra stuff, not just during the team periods.”
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