The New England Patriots suffered their second consecutive defeat and found out that the bankruptcy against Jacksonville last week was no slip-up. In the Detroit Lions’ 26-10 success, the Patriots were completely off track for a long time and were unable to stop Detroit defensively.
It was time for the big reunion between the longtime Patriots Defensive Coordinator Matt Patricia and his former team. And anyone who thought after the weak start to the Lions’ season that the old protégé would get a lesson from teacher Bill Belichick was so wrong. The Patriots offered a bloodless performance and started with three three-and-outs.
Detroit, on the other hand, marched down the field and made the right decisions time and again in play calling. New England was enormously disappointing in terms of pass rush and tackling and lacked a lot in terms of speed and efficiency. The Lions scored their first three drives and outdid the guests with 231 to 70 yards in the first half. The fact that the lead was only ten points after such a one-sided first half was also due to extremely cautious decisions at 4th Down.
The Patriots were woken up by a bad interception of Matthew Stafford (27/36, 262 YDS, 2TD, INT) on the first drive in the second run and shortened their gap to three points. The defense, however, continued to contribute no stops and Stafford found after a magnificent play-action fake Marvin Jones over 33 yards in the end zone. Detroit’s work in the secondary was outstanding and so Tom Brady (14/26, 133 YDS, TD, INT) didn’t find any playoff stations even with good protection. As in the previous week, the Patriots found no alternative to the intensively covered Rob Gronkowski (5 TGTS, 4 REC, 51 YDS).
Since the Lions also put the running game on the field, the clock was controlled. So the hosts had the ball in their hands twice as long as New England. When Brady was intercepted by Darius Slay in Desperation mode, the thing for Detroit was in the dry cloths. Patricia wins game one against the former mentor and New England must think seriously about the uncharacteristic appearance. A defeat to Miami next week would mean they’re already three games behind the Dolphins.
The Rookie-O-Liner dominated the line and was a decisive factor in Lions’ success with inside-runs. The Lions O-Line won the duel in the Trenches crystal clear and allowed almost no pressure. Ragnow played flawlessly and used his physique so convincingly again and again that opposing linemen had to pull themselves off the ground again and again.
Some names from the patriots’ defence could have been mentioned here. Dont’a Hightower, however, was the strongest contender due to very bad tackling behaviour. The linebacker looked extremely slow on his feet and missed safe tackles. Even in coverage tasks, 28-year-olds were always late. As in the previous year, the Patriots Defense in the first quarter of the season is not yet at its peak.