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Former New England Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia is set to embark on his first venture as a head coach in the NFL with the Detroit Lions. Patricia will have the opportunity to coach Pro Bowl quarterback Matthew Stafford in his first stint as a head coach in the NFL and is looking forward to the opportunity.
Patricia has wasted little time in making a strong first impression on his star quarterback by praising his all-around talent throwing the football. The first-time head coach talks about the difficulty coaching against Stafford while complimenting his ability by calling him a complete quarterback, according to Kevin Meinke of MLive.com.
“As a guy trying to coordinate against him, he's very difficult to defend,” the first-year Detroit Lions coach said. “Sometimes you look at quarterbacks and say, ‘OK, is this a cerebral quarterback? Or is this a system quarterback? Is it a guy that has a really good arm? Is it strong? Is it accurate? How does he make his throws? Is he mobile? Is he not mobile? Does he have command of the offense or is it more coordinator-led? You kind of look at all of that. And this is a guy that's more along the lines of just totally complete.
“When you're looking at that as a defensive coordinator, he's checking all those boxes, like, ‘yup, yup, yup, yup. Oh (bleep).' He's just very difficult from that standpoint.”
This is certainly a huge compliment coming from a coach that had spent more than a decade working with the Patriots with Tom Brady as the starting quarterback. Patricia may be gassing up Stafford's ability on the field a little bit, but there is a clear strong belief that the 30-year-old can lead the team to much success behind his arm and leadership.
In the last several seasons, Stafford has proven to be one of the better quarterbacks in the league behind his production coming off his seventh straight 4,000 passing yard campaign while finishing fourth with 29 touchdown passes, and sixth with both a 65.7 percent completion rate and 99.3 passer rating. The only question mark has been his health as he has battled through numerous injuries throughout his career.
If the Lions are to breakthrough with a playoff appearance under Patricia, it will require Stafford to lead the way with his arm while the defense must show improvement next season. Detroit ranked 27th overall on that side of the ball in the 2017 campaign including 27th against the pass and 17th facing the run. There could also be much adjustment to the roster over the offseason in free agency to help that process with more than $44 million salary cap space. Nonetheless, Stafford will figure to play a significant part in helping the Lions reach the postseason once again.
