Welcome to the Darrell Bevell era in Detroit.
The Lions still have their flaws, especially on defense, but this team is noticeably different than they were under the previous regime. From the team’s approach leading up to the game to how they closed out the victory, this was the antithesis of most things former-Lions coach Matt Patricia has preached for three years.
When Bevell took over last weekend, he said he was going to change some things. While not all those changes were made public, there were notable changes in practice: ranging from music aimed at a younger generation to an adjustment of the player’s schedule — players reportedly complained to Bevell they were feeling run down under the Patricia schedule — and the energy level went up a notch.
Consistently, players were reported to be looser and more relaxed in the locker room and it matched Bevell’s approach of allowing them to have more fun during the week.
Once the game started, Bevell — who is still calling the plays — was aggressive on offense, opening the playbook up a bit more, especially the deep pass, as noted in Matthew Stafford’s pass distribution chart, courtesy of NFL Next Gen Stats:
The Lions managed sixty yards and two touchdowns on the ground, but they were by no means married to it as something they had to “establish”.
Additionally, the defense failed to stop the run today — another phrase we have heard every week for the last 1,000 days — and while that led to a double-digit deficit, the late-game playcalling didn’t force the team into a meltdown.
Make no mistake, the defense is still bad, there’s only so much you can change in a week, but the demeanor and attitude that surrounds this team has been altered.
In today’s post-game press conference, worn-out all-too-common phrases — like “We didn’t execute well enough. We’ve gotta coach better, I’ve gotta coach better. And we’ve gotta play better.” — were nowhere to be found. Instead, Bevell introduced thoughtful and raw insight.
Here’s a sampling of the best responses from Bevell’s post-game presser:
“We had a windshield and no rearview mirror.”
“They continued to play, you know, for 60 minutes.”
On his halftime speech: “Play just until there’s no time left on the clock, and continue to play with the joy and the enthusiasm that we wanted to play with and we’ll see what happens at the end.”
“That’s what I asked them to do, just keep playing and keep playing and good things would happen at the end, and it did.”
“My mentality was that, like if I’m going to lead these guys, I gotta have that same belief.”
“We kind of let him (Stafford) play today, and he just responded in a big way.”
“I think we just probably had a little bit more focus on them (big plays) this week, and Matthew (Stafford) responded in a good way.”
“Matthew Stafford presented (me with) the game ball in there (locker room). It was just — I mean I can’t even describe it, just amazing.”
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