The off-spinner says Mitchell Johnson's extreme pace in 2013-14 intimidated the tourists so much that they were already "broken" after the first Test.
Johnson took 37 wickets at 13.97 and did most of the damage as England were whitewashed 5-0.
"Seeing Mitchell Johnson scare all the Poms was unbelievable," Lyon said. "Leading into (the third Test at) Perth we knew they were broken; we knew Matt Prior wanted to fly home before the game started."
