Lions Not Intimidated As Tough Test Looms Against Tom Brady-Led Patriots
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - The New England Patriots thrive on their home field in Gillette Stadium, and they enter Sunday's game there on a six-game winning streak. Three-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady leads the offense, which has scored 32.3 points per game this season. When the Patriots meet the Detroit Lions this week, it will be a clash of one of the game's hottest offenses against the NFL's top-ranked defense.
At the suggestion the Lions might be intimidated by New England's estimable list of assets - tight end Rob Gronkowski and cornerback Darrelle Revis come to mind, along with Brady - Lions safety James Ihedigbo balked.
"Look at the names and guys we've got on this team; you should be intimidated by the people we've got on this team," Ihedigbo said Wednesday. "We've got [Ndamukong] Suh, we've got guys that are beasts in this league, not even just on this team, so why should we feel – take the backseat to anybody? Why should we?"
Ihedigbo suggested anyone not intimidated by the Lions meet them on the field.
"Play us on Sundays," Ihedigbo said. "If you ain't, we will. You'll see by the end of it, you know?"
The Lions have not allowed an opponent to score more than 24 points all season. In seven of its 10 games, Detroit has held opponents to 17 points or fewer.
New England, however, presents a challenge unlike any Detroit has faced so far this season. The Patriots rank second in the NFL in scoring, and Brady has a passer rating of 102.0 and has thrown for 24 touchdowns and just five interceptions. New England lost two of its first four games, but the Patriots have not lost since Sept. 29.
New England has scored 42 points or more in four of its last six games. In that span, the Patriots never scored fewer than 27 points in a game. Brady has been sacked only 14 times this year, but Ihedigbo said a defense can rattle Brady if players hit him consistently. Doing so could prove tricky, however.
"Great release, very, very quick in the pocket," Lions head coach Jim Caldwell said. "[Brady] gets that ball out fast. You don't see a whole lot of people get to him because of that, and he can make every throw. He has a wide array of touch plays as well as down the field he can launch it, intermediate passing game, he can do it all."
Safety Glover Quin said Brady's focus and his killer instinct impress him most.
"He's locked in," Quin said. "When they're at home you can really hear him talking to his guys and telling them, 'Hey, calm down.' 'Stop right there.' 'You, back up.' 'This guy's the mike.' 'This is what we're doing.' You can hear it clear as day when they're playing at home because their crowd is silent ... so to be able to see the control that he has of his offense and his team and his guys and command them and demand excellence from his guys, it's a cool thing to see, the way he's foot-on-the-throat the whole time.
"He's going for the jugular and he's trying to keep it there," Quin added. "That's impressive, especially to be able to do it over this many years with so many different guys. It's impressive."
It would not be a stretch to label the game a litmus test for the Lions, but Ihedigbo thinks it could be considered a measuring stick for New England (8-2) as much as for Detroit (7-3).
"It goes both ways," Ihedigbo said. "You'd think it'd be the litmus test for them as well, right? We'll see. We'll just have to see come Sunday. There's no game being played today. We've just got to see. We'll see where the chips fall at the end of it."
Caldwell echoed Ihedigbo's sentiments that the team will not be intimidated by playing New England on the road.
"The guys that play in this league, they're afraid of nothing," Caldwell said. "Fear is something that I think is talked about outside of those realms, but the guys that walk between those stripes, there's not a whole lot of reputation or things of that nature going to make a real big difference to them.
"They come to play, and you have to prove to them what your status is going to be on that particular day, and you can see from week to week that changes," Caldwell continued, "and I think our guys view it the same way. There's not a whole lot of guys that read and fear someone's reputation or buildup."