Matt Patricia’s Detroit Lions defense will make debut Monday night

The Detroit Lions brought in new head coach Matt Patricia in large part due to his defensive prowess. His Motown defense will finally be revealed Monday night.

Last season, the Detroit Lions‘ defense ranked 27th in the NFL. They were 27th against the pass, 18th against the rush. It’s one of the reasons the Lions opted to hire former New England Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia as their new head coach in the offseason.

Patricia brought in Paul Pasqualoni as the Lions’ new defensive coordinator. And the ex-Patriot brought with him an impressive playbook that employs multiple schemes, looks, and coverages that requires versatile defenders to execute it.

Patricia and the Lions’ front office went to work adding players with position-flex to the roster. Linebackers Devon Kennard and Christian Jones, plus defensive tackle Ricky Jean-Francois are all projected to be starters Monday night.

Then throw in rookie defensive lineman Da’Shawn Shead, defensive tackle Sylvester Williams plus other new additions like linebackers Eli Harold and Marquis Flowers; and this Detroit defense has many new faces learning a new scheme with new teammates.

Through the preseason, the Lions defense was unimpressive as the team posted a record of 1-3. But no one was expecting to see anything but a very watered down scheme offering little for opposing coaches to study. In their regular season home opener, the new Patricia-led defense in Detroit will finally make its true debut.

And this revamped defensive unit in the Motor City could not have a better opponent than the New York Jets, who are coming off back-to-back 5-11 seasons and will be starting a rookie quarterback under center in Sam Darnold. The Jets’ offense ranked a lowly 28th last year.

Offensively, the Detroit Lions should look identical in the passing game. And the team made several moves to improve their rushing attack. But fans will undoubtedly be focused on the defense hoping to see glimpses of the Matt Patricia scheme that led the Patriots to so much success in New England.