Lion attack

Who says the third preseason game is important? Oh, right. Everyone says that. Certainly the Detroit Lions are saying that after soundly beating the Pats 34-10 last night.

The Patriots, who looked like a fine-tuned machine in pretend games one and two, looked like my car after three years of no tune-ups, no oil changes, no brake jobs. It wasn't pretty. But it also doesn't count. The Pats are still 0-0.

But last night's game was a reminder of what is the most important part of football -- protecting the quarterback. That has been a strong point of Belichick's Pats for the most part. And it will be again this year, you can count on it. But last night -- against a ferocious Lions' rush -- the offensive line was a mess. Brady was under the gun from the start and couldn't get much going.

Ndamukong Suh and the Lions D was one of the best last year for a non-playoff team. It looks even better this year. As comfortable as Brady looked last week against Tampa, he looked that frazzled last night. Borges will most likely write a column (if not tomorrow, sometime this year) how Brady is no better than any other QB (like, say, Bledsoe)  when he is under pressure. Which is completely inaccurate. Many of his biggest passes have come with a defender inches from croaking him. But what is true is that if the offensive line plays too many games like they did last night, the offense will have a hard time moving the ball with any consistency.

I'm not worried about the O line at this point. Every unit will have a bad game now and then. And the Lions can bring it with the best of them. What was concerning was how the entire team failed to show up. Preseason or not, the third game on the road against an up and coming team should bring out the best in you. The Pats' best was no where to be found in Detroit.

What was even worse was that the two teams have developed a bit of a dislike for each other after last year's rough and tumble Thanksgiving Day game. The Lions  jumped all over Brady early in that one too but the Pats showed their toughness level and fought back for wild win on the road. The Lions jumped all over Brady early again last night but the Pats had very little fight in them. It was surprising to see.

If you go on one preseason game, the Lions look like a playoff contender for the first time in ... oh, too long for me to remember. And if you go by one preseason game, the Pats looked like a disorganized team without much of a compete level.

But it wasn't a real game. We'll see in Miami in two weeks where the Pats' compete level is. It should be a lot higher than last night.