Lions dominate Patriots as New England offense continues to struggle taken at Ford Field (Patriots)

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Patriots

Lions dominate Patriots as New England offense continues to struggle

By Christopher Price

Sep 23, 2018 • 11:53 am

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Ugly. Brutal. Hideous. Pick your adjective.

The Patriots trailed from start to finish Sunday night as they fell to the Lions in Detroit, 26-10. In one of the worst displays of football New England has put on film the last few years, the Patriots never had a shot all night, coming up short in all three phases of the game against the Lions.

New England fell to 1-2 on the season — it marks the first time since 2012 the Patriots have started a season with two losses in their first three games. It also marks the first time since the end of the 2015 season New England has lost back-to-back games. The Patriots will host the 3-0 Dolphins next week in Foxborough.

The New England defense was without three starters — defensive end Trey Flowers and defensive backs Patrick Chung and Eric Rowe — but it’s unlikely that would have mattered much. Detroit dominated up front all night long, building behind its’ running game and maintaining that momentum all night long on the way to their first win of the year.

Tom Brady was 14-for-26 for 133 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Sony Michel had 14 carries for 50 yards, while Rob Gronkowski added four catches for 51 yards.

The Lions were impressive out of the gate, building a 13-0 lead thanks in part to a rushing attack that dominated much of the evening. (The surprising thing? Detroit was one of the worst rushing teams in the league coming into the contest.) The Lions’ offensive line worked New England’s defensive line badly, as LeGarrettte Blount and Kerryon Johnson played a big role in helping Detroit end up with 159 yards on the ground. (Johnson broke a streak of four-plus years without a 100-plus yard rusher for the Lions.) Matthew Stafford did the rest, ending up 27-for-36 for 262 yards with a pair of touchdowns and an interception.

The Patriots cut the lead to 13-10 early in the third — after a Ja’Whaun Bentley interception, New England put together a tidy little seven-play, 52-yard drive that ended with a Brady touchdown pass to James White with 10:03 left in the third. But that was as close as the Patriots would get, as the Lions put up a third-quarter touchdown and a fourth-quarter field goal to stretch the lead to 23-10. A late field-goal ended things.

IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS



11:10 p.m.: That's that -- 26-10.

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9:59 p.m.:




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only


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just


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kind of sort of


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PREGAME OBSERVATIONS


Game:

TV:

Online:

Radio:

Online: 


Some pregame reading:















7:46 p.m.:


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5:07 p.m.:


a)


b)


c)


4:33 p.m.:




11:30 a.m.:
Adam Schefter
Rob Gronkowski


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