Bill Belichick Calls Lions' Jack Fox Best Punter in NFL

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was complimentary of the Detroit Lions' offense, punter and special teams unit.

As is typically customary, opposing NFL head coaches tend to highlight the strengths of their opponents, prior to taking the field for a 60-minute battle. 

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick told reporters this week he was impressed with Detroit's special teams unit, punter Jack Fox, linebacker Chris Board and an offense that is among the best in the NFL. 

“Fox is the best punter in the league. He’s outstanding. Fox is a weapon," Belichick said. “Kickoff, punt, punt for accuracy, punt for distance. Threw it like a quarterback back there. That was a long throw, 15 yards deep, good coverage. He put it right in there.”

Detroit's offense is led by quarterback Jared Goff, who has recorded 1,126 passing yards and 11 touchdown passes (against three interceptions). 

Among the reasons the offense has been successful has been the play of the offensive line and the trio of running backs on the roster. 

"They do a number of things well. They use an extra offensive lineman probably as much as any team in the league. Their backs are good," Belichick explained. "They run a lot of gap schemes. They marry up the runs and play-actions well. So, if you stop the run, it’s hard to stop the play action. They do a good job of hitting across the board the width of the running game -- outside, a lot of off-tackle plays, inside, cut-back plays, things like that.

Belichick continued, "They have a good scheme, a good balanced attack and they set it up so that if you’re stopping one thing, you can’t stop the complementary play that goes with it, whether it’s a complementary run or complementary pass."

Board also caught the attention of Belichick, who noted that the veteran linebacker will be among the best special teams players the Patriots will face this season.