Matt Patricia’s unlikely path to becoming an NFL coach began with his buddies Youth Daniel Kilgore Jersey , setting up miniature players on a vibrating, metal field for fierce games of electric football.

”I knew at a very young age the strategic part of the game was something that I just loved,” Patricia said Wednesday after being introduced as coach of the Detroit Lions. ”I thrived on it. We would try to just out plan each other all the time and we’d have huge games that would roll into weeks at a time.”

Years later, Patricia took a pivotal step toward his dream job after earning an aeronautical engineering degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute by being a graduate assistant at his alma mater. The former offensive lineman – who is from Sherrill, New York – coached up one of the players at RPI and saw him do what he was taught during a game.

”The success that we had and his joy that he showed from being able to do that, that’s really when it clicked for me as a coach,” Patricia said with his previously bushy beard trimmed and a pencil over his right ear. ”At that point, the strategic part of the game along with my coaching aspirations just kind of put things in motion.”

The Lions desperately hope Patricia takes full advantage of his first opportunity to lead a football team and ends their decades-long search for a coach who can lead them to elusive success in the playoffs.

Since winning the 1957 NFL title, Detroit’s only postseason victory was more than a quarter-century ago.

”Our goal is to win and to compete for championships,” team president Rod Wood said. ”I believe that we are taking the next step in meeting those expectations.”

Lions general manager Bob Quinn fired coach Jim Caldwell last month with a 36-28 mark over four years and two playoff appearances. The Lions went 9-7 last season and missed the playoffs, ranking among the NFL’s worst rushing teams for the fourth straight year.

”I wanted to find a leader that could take us to the next level and I am confident we have found that in Matt Patricia,” Quinn said.

The 43-year-old Patricia helped New England win three Super Bowls over 14 years. He was the Patriots’ defensive coordinator the past six seasons.

Detroit’s search was focused on Patricia right from the start because he worked with Quinn for a dozen years in New England.

”We sat next to each other in a lot of team meetings in New England for many of our years together,” Quinn recalled. ”We also spent a great deal of time together on the road scouting college prospects, traveling around the country trying to find new players.”

In recent years, Patricia has become a candidate to lead a team in the league as one of Bill Belichick’s top assistant coaches. He appeared to be in the running to be hired by his homestate New York Giants and perhaps the Arizona Cardinals, but choose the challenge in the Motor City at least in part because of his relationship with Quinn.

”My comfort level with Bob is huge in all of this,” he said.

After being a graduate assistant at RPI in 1996 Youth Josh Sitton Jersey , Patricia shifted gears to be an aeronautical engineer for two years. Patricia got back on the sideline as a defensive line coach at Amherst College in 1999 and went on to be a graduate assistant for Paul Pasqualoni, whom he has hired to be Detroit’s defensive coordinator.

Jim Bob Cooter was not mentioned in the Lions’ release regarding staff additions , but he is listed on the team’s website as its returning offensive coordinator.

”Jim Bob is on staff and he will be here,” Patricia said. ”Obviously, he’s done a great job here in what he’s been able to accomplish with both him and (Matthew) Stafford and the offense.”

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Lane Johnson walked off the field wearing a dog mask while teammates barked after the Philadelphia Eagles squeaked out an upset to move within one victory of the Super Bowl.

Keep calling them underdogs. They embraced the role.

”It’s what makes sports fun,” said Johnson, the All-Pro right tackle. ”Anything more we can use to motivate us, we’ll use.”

The Eagles (14-3) were 3-point underdogs against the sixth-seed Atlanta Falcons (11-7), the first time a No. 1 seed wasn’t favored to win its first playoff game. They needed a stop on fourth down from the 2 in the final minute to beat the Falcons 15-10 and advance to the NFC title game for the first time since the 2008 season.

After Philly’s newly formed dog pound celebrated on the field, owner Jeffrey Lurie joined the fun by dancing in the circle in the middle of the locker room.

Expectations for Philadelphia plummeted after Carson Wentz tore his ACL in Week 14. They went 2-1 with Nick Foles, losing a meaningless game in Week 17 after starters only played one quarter. Still, oddsmakers and pundits picked the defending NFC champion Falcons to win.

”Since that point Carson went down, nobody has given us a chance,” coach Doug Pederson said. ”I understand Carson is a great player, but every week our guys hear we’re not good enough.”

Foles bounced back from a pair of subpar games with a steady performance. He completed 77 percent of his passes (23 of 30) for 246 yards, no touchdowns and no turnovers.

”The biggest thing in our locker room is that we believe in one another and that showed,” Foles said. ”We kept working Youth Fred Warner Jersey , kept grinding, had faith in one another. In any sport there’s going to be criticism. You’re aware of it because you’re human but we blocked it out.”

Foles outplayed Matt Ryan, last year’s NFL MVP. He led two impressive drives, one into the wind and one with it. Foles made a big-time 15-yard throw to Alshon Jeffery with 1 second left in the first half to set up Jake Elliott’s 53-yard field goal that cut Atlanta’s lead to 10-9.

”You guys doubted him, we never doubted him,” Jeffery said. ”We believe in anybody lining up back there at quarterback. We believe we still have 21 other guys out there.”

Losing Wentz, an MVP candidate, was the biggest blow during a season in which several standout players were hurt.

Nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters, versatile back/return specialist Darren Sproles, playmaking linebacker Jordan Hicks and special teams captain Chris Maragos each suffered season-ending injuries.

”Biggest emotion is for the team, for the guys, the resiliency, backs against the wall, people discounting us,” Pederson said.

The Eagles will host the winner of the Saints-Vikings game next Sunday. They’ve haven’t reached the Super Bowl since Donovan McNabb, Terrell Owens and Co. lost to the New England Patriots 24-21 in February 2005.

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