Patriots Icon Julian Edelman Questions NFC Team’s Toughness After Loss

Julian Edelman wondered if a Super Bowl contender has lost its edge after a Thanksgiving shortcoming.

The Detroit Lions fell to 7-5 with a 31-24 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday. Dan Campbell’s squad is third in the NFC North a year after capturing the conference’s No. 1 seed with a franchise-record 15 wins.

Edelman left the costly division loss with a harsh takeaway, which the New England Patriots legend shared on “Fox NFL Sunday.”

“The Detroit Lions may have lost their toughness,” Edelman said.

The Lions enter Sunday’s slate fifth in rushing offense, but they dropped from fifth to 14th in rushing defense after allowing 125 yards on the ground against Green Bay. However, Edelman was even more concerned about Detroit struggling to give Jared Goff a clean pocket.

Goff completed 20 of 26 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns, but Micah Parsons feasted with four quarterback hits and 2.5 sacks.

“How are you a tough football team? You can run the football, you can stop the run, you can protect the quarterback,” Edelman explained. “Seven quarterback hits. Three sacks on Jared Goff, seven hurries. I mean, they couldn’t protect him, and Jared Goff needs to have that middle of the pocket.”

On the other hand, the Lions didn’t sack Packers quarterback Jordan Love once on Thursday.

“They couldn’t get anything on Jordan Love, and Jordan Love made them pay,” Edelman noted.

Campbell vowed to “bite a kneecap off” during his introductory press conference, so the head coach may not appreciate Edelman questioning his team’s toughness. The Lions will look to rebound against the Dallas Cowboys next Thursday night.