On Monday afternoon, Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia was clear: his defensive strategy late in the game did not become soft or “prevent.” The Lions did not take the foot off the gas on the defensive side of the ball, like many perceived it had.
“We definitely didn’t back off from a standpoint of playcalls or anything like that,” Patricia said in his press conference the day after the team ceded 18 fourth-quarter points, allowing the Cardinals to tie the game up late.
But I wanted to fact-check Patricia. It certainly felt as if Kyler Murray had a much easier time sitting in the pocket and finding open receivers.