Matt Patricia vs Kyle Shanahan

The head coach matchup is a rematch of the 2017 Super Bowl when the New England Patriots pulled off a historic comeback victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Well, Patricia was calling defensive plays for New England, while Shanahan ran the Falcons offense.

The pair of coaches has had a different path since that February matchup. Shanahan looks like one of the best young offensive-minded head coaches in the league and found a talented quarterback to run his offense in Jimmy Garoppolo. Although the Niners’ quarterback struggled against a stout Minnesota Vikings defense in Week 1, Patricia’s Lions defense let rookie QB Sam Darnold go to work on Monday night.

In Patricia’s first year as a head coach, Detroit could be a mess. Murmurs out of Detroit are that Patricia hasn’t resonated with his players. You could tell the Lions players aren’t all-in on their new head coach based on the lackluster play on Monday night. Additionally, Jets defenders were eager to tell the media they knew exactly what the Lions offense was doing before each play. Clearly offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter decided to roll it back with his play calling and not implement any offseason changes to his system.

The coordinator rematch from Super Bowl LI is an interesting one. Shanahan will surely be looking for revenge over the former Patriots defensive coordinator, while Patricia looks to right the ship after a treacherous start to the season.

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