Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard and special teams coordinator Dave Fipp spoke to the media Thursday as they do every week during the regular season.
Here are my 10 biggest takeaways from those media sessions:
1. The Lions defense has allowed just 15.5 points per game over their current four-game win streak. That side of the ball has played good football going on a month now.
"I like the mentality that guys are playing with, the swagger, the confidence," Sheppard said. "And I think it's just breathing through the entire defense. I love the way that we're improving.
Sheppard said the biggest improvement over the last month has been limiting the explosive plays that hurt them the first month of the season. Sheppard's unit will have a good test Sunday in Munich, Germany in that regard against a New England Patriots offense that's creating explosives at one of the highest clips in the NFL.
2. Green Bay threw for 372 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-27 win over New England last week. What did Petzing see from that tape he might be able to use Sunday?
"I'd say a lot of those were contested with some great throws and catches, and that's what we need to be able to do."
Petzing said they'll need to win their one-on-ones upfront, so they get more of those opportunities to push the ball down the field. That's what he saw Green Bay do effectively on tape.
3. Kicker Jake Bates earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after connecting on all field goal attempts last week plus an extra point for a 13-point effort in Detroit's 19-9 win at Miami. Fipp said the great thing about Bates is that he's still a young, ascending player who will continue just getting better and better. Bates has missed just one field goal all year and is perfect on extra point tries.
4. Second-year nose tackle Tyleik Williams has ratcheted his game up another step this season. Sheppard said Thursday that Williams is a big reason why the defense has had so much success this season. The play from Detroit's defense right in the middle of that defensive line between Williams and Alim McNeill has been a catalyst for everything else.
5. The Lions' offense has been plagued with some slow starts this year and Petzing has challenged his unit this week to have more urgency from the first snap. Detroit's ended games the last three weeks really well offensively, and he wants to see more of that from the start Sunday.
6. Does Jack Fox have the best arm Fipp's ever seen from an NFL punter? Fox is a former high school quarterback who is now 5-of-6 passing for 72 yards on fake punt throws in his NFL career.
"I thought (former punter) Johnny Hekker, back when he was at the Rams, they used him to throw the ball and I thought he was very, very good," Fipp said. "I would say he was the one guy that I thought was like that. I haven't seen anybody look like Fox since then for sure. And I don't know which one's better, but they're both good. I know we played against Hekker a handful of times and it was an issue going into the game."
7. The Lions traded for veteran safety Andre Cisco this week. Sheppard said he's figured out this week what Cisco might already know about Detroit's defensive schemes based on his time in New York with former Lions defensive coordinator and current Jets head coach Aaron Glenn.
"The biggest task when you acquire a guy on short notice and he's up for the game on Sunday is the verbiage, trying to let him know, 'Hey this,' well, we didn't have to do that for Cisco," Sheppard said. "He jumped out at practice yesterday and it was like he's been here."
Sheppard said Cisco is a rangy athlete, and they'll try to utilize his skill set as early as Sunday in Germany. Sheppard likes the depth at safety now and the ability to move players around back there as chess pieces as he sees fit.
8. Petzing said there were some hard conversations he had with left guard Christian Mahogany after he was benched last week for a violation of team rules.
"I think he responded and was really pleased with the way he handled it and looking forward to see what he does going forward," Petzing said.
Detroit's offensive coordinator added that he doesn't anticipate Mahogany missing a beat getting back in with the offensive line.
9. The Lions were hit on a fake punt last week in Miami. Fipp said it's tough balancing the aggressive approach the Lions take getting downfield while covering punts and being susceptible to a fake.
"You do have to balance it out and you have to be smart and you have to know who you are, who they are, situation in the game, really how many points are being scored in the game, how valuable is a possession in the game," Fipp said.
10. While McNeill might say he still has more to give, per Sheppard, Detroit's defensive coordinator said McNeill is having the best season of his career based on the tape showing that he's one of the best defensive tackles in the league.
