Pupil vs. Mentor
Belichick has chance to beat another former assistant as Patriots visit Lions
DETROIT — Bill Belichick has a chance to knock off another branch from his coaching tree.
The five-time Super Bowl-winning coach has had his staff trimmed by NFL teams many times.
They all hired coaches who know how Belichick and the New England Patriots operate behind closed doors, banking on them being able to duplicate the formula for success.
It hasn't worked out that well. Eight former Belichick assistants have been hired by NFL teams and Al Groh is the only one in the group with a winning record. Groh was 9-7 in his one and only season with the New York Jets in 2000.
Belichick either does not know, or will not say, why he thinks his former assistants have struggled leading teams in the league.
"I'm not in the analytics business," he bristled.
The track record of Belichick assistants did not deter Detroit because general manager Bob Quinn, a former member of Belichick's front office, hired Matt Patricia soon after New England lost the Super Bowl.
If the Belichick-Patricia reunion goes as expected, it will follow a trend and teacher will school the student Sunday night in Detroit.
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Belichick beat the Bill O'Brienled Houston Texans in Week 1, making him 14-8 against assistants who worked for him in New England or Cleveland.
Even though the Patriots (1-1) are scuffling a bit on both sides of the ball by their standards, the Lions (0-2) have looked simply lost at times under Patricia and they're expected to lose by about a touchdown.
Before and after the game, there's a chance Patricia will be embraced more by his former players than his current ones.
"Matty P, he's a coach who always had high expectations," New England linebacker Dont'a Hightower said.
"But at the same time, he was definitely a player's coach. He was definitely somebody who, once you get outside those doors, he was a guy who you could text or call and had a question — not even necessarily about football — but just life in general."
And in general, Patricia deflects questions just as his mentor does in public. Patricia has no interest in sharing what parts of his scheme with the Lions mirrors what was done in New England.
"We're trying to build Detroit here," he said.
And, Belichick refused to say how much he has kept in touch with Patricia over the past several months.
"I'll keep that on a personal level," he said.
Here are some other things to know about the Patriots-Lions primetime matchup:
NEW ADDITION
Josh Gordon was limited because of a hamstring injury in his first two practices in New England on Wednesday after being acquired in a trade with the Browns.
Since Gordon was an All-Pro wide receiver in 2013, he has played in just 11 games, including one this season. Gordon was suspended for the 2015 season after violating the league's substance abuse policy and he missed all of 2016.
"If he makes plays on us, everybody is going to say Josh Gordon looks real fresh out there," Detroit safety Glover Quin said. "If we make a lot of plays everyone is going to say Josh Gordon looks real rusty."
New England needs help at receiver because Julian Edelman was suspended for the first four games, Danny Amendola left to sign in Miami and Brandin Cooks was traded to the Los Angeles Rams.
GOING DEEP
Matthew Stafford has made a career of connecting on deep passes. In last week's 30-27 loss at San Francisco, though, he missed a handful of opportunities to make big plays by overthrowing receivers.
The Patriots are preparing for Stafford to be sharp.
"He's a good quarterback. He can get it going," New England linebacker Elandon Roberts said. "He can throw. He's very athletic. He can get out of the pocket and he's still gonna be looking downfield to make a play."
BOUNCING BACK
The Patriots, who lost 31-20 at Jacksonville last week, are 45-6 in the regular season after a setback since the 2003 season. They have not lost consecutive games since 2015 when it happened twice.
WHO'S COUNTING
Detroit drafted Michael Roberts in the fourth round last year in part because the former Toledo star led the nation in touchdowns by a tight end with 16. He finally scored for his first NFL touchdown against the 49ers in the 17th game of his career.
Roberts said it had been exactly, "638 days," since he was in the end zone with the ball.
"It's nice to be able to show the world the talents I have," he said.
CONCUSSIONS
Three key players may miss the game because of concussions: Detroit cornerback Darius Slay, New England defensive end Trey Flowers and safety Patrick Chung. All three players did not practice Wednesday or Thursday.
NEW ENGLAND (1-1) at DETROIT (0-2)
Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC OPENING LINE - Patriots by 6 RECORD VS. SPREAD - New England 1-1, Detroit 1-1 SERIES RECORD - Patriots lead 7-4 LAST MEETING - Patriots beat Lions 34-9 Nov. 23, 2014. LAST WEEK - Patriots lost to Jaguars 31-20; Lions lost to 49ers 30-27 AP PRO32 RANKING - Patriots No. 5, Lions No. 30 PATRIOTS OFFENSE - OVERALL (20), RUSH (18T), PASS (18). PATRIOTS DEFENSE - OVERALL (28), RUSH (27), PASS (23). LIONS OFFENSE - OVERALL (11), RUSH (30), PASS (6). LIONS DEFENSE - OVERALL (16) RUSH (32), PASS (4). STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES - Tom Brady has helped Patriots win four straight in series since making NFL debut Nov. 23, 2000, late in fourth quarter of 34-9 loss against Lions at Pontiac Silverdome. ... Bill Belichick facing former assistant for second time in three weeks. Patriots opened with 27-20 win over Houston and former New England assistant Bill O'Brien. ... Belichick 14-8 against former assistants. Now Matt Patricia gets his shot. ... Belichick was assistant special teams coach for Lions in 1976 and wide receivers coach next season. ... Patriots owner Robert Kraft one win away from becoming fastest to No. 300 in NFL history; would be in 431 games. ... New England 45-6 after losing game since 2003 and didn't lose two straight in 2016 or 2017. ... Brady has won nine of last 11 Sunday night games and 19 of 29 in career. ... Patriots LB Kyle Van Noy has nine tackles, tied for second on team, interception and faces franchise that drafted and traded him. ... Detroit's first-year coach Patricia was Belichick's defensive coordinator previous six seasons and on staff for 14 years. ... Lions general manager Bob Quinn worked for Patriots 2000-15. ... More than dozen Lions employees worked for Patriots. ... Detroit off to worst start since 0-5 in 2015. ... Lions WR Golden Tate has scored each of last two home games and has seven receptions in last three games. ...Detroit LB Devon Kennard has at least one sack in three straight games.