Lions notes: Learning from the Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots

Every year, the media tries to pull overarching lessons about the NFL or the future of the game based on that year’s Super Bowl winner. Typically that’s a little reductive and overly simplistic. Just because one team won the championship a certain way does not mean that it’s the only way to build a Super Bowl-winning team. No matter what anyone tells you, they don’t know the future of the game.

But Chris Burke of The Athletic put together an interesting piece (subscription required) about some things the Detroit Lions may have learned over the weekend, seeing as they’re currently building their team much like the Patriots have in New England.

Burke lays out five lessons the Lions can take, most of which are good news for Lions fan. I won’t lay them all out here since the article is behind a paywall, but some include: pass rush doesn’t have to come from the edge (see: linebackers), fullbacks can still have a role in today’s NFL and a solid tight end/slot receiver is invaluable.

• Happy 31st birthday, Matthew Stafford! Here are five stats that all basically say the same thing: You’ve thrown the ball a heck of a lot over your career:

• The NFL released a list of the 338 players that will participate in the 2019 NFL Combine, including quarterback Kyler Murray. Dave Birkett has a list of the local guys that got invites:

• Lions safety Glover Quin was the 2018 winner of the Media Good Guy award, as voted on by the Detroit Sport Media. Glover spent the full 45 minutes of media availability one day a week to answer any and all questions, with no exceptions.

Personally speaking, I think Ricky Jean Francois also deserves some recognition for being available nearly every day, even when things weren’t going well.

• Is Kerryon Johnson the best Lions running back since Barry Sanders? Birkett looked at the history between the two eras to see if it’s true.

• It appears Lions head coach Matt Patricia was hanging out with Bill Belichick in Atlanta this weekend.

(Note: It’s not 100 percent clear if this photo was taken this year, but considering the “Atlanta” caption and the timing of the post—Thursday afternoon—it seems like a safe assumption. Although, it is Throwback Thursday...)

• How will the Lions fill their desperate need for at least one tight end? Lions Wire’s Zack Moran debates the value of signing a free agency versus getting one in the draft.