Everything you need to know from the Patriots’ loss to the Lions in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:
GAMEBOOK
HEADLINES
Another slow start. For the second consecutive week, the Patriots came out of the gate flat and ended up getting overwhelmed by an opponents’ intensity. New England’s first three drives were 3-and-outs. Meanwhile, the Lions were jacked up from the opening whistle — each of Detroit’s first three drives went at least nine plays, and the Lions finished them off with a field goal, a touchdown, and a field goal for a 13-0 lead. New England cut the lead to 13-10 in the third, but like last week in Jacksonville, the early deficit proved to be too much. The Patriots tried to manufacture some energy in the second half, but it was too little, too late.
“There’s no magic play you can call. It just comes down to execution. Throwing and caching and converting on third down,” said quarterback Tom Brady of the early struggles that have plagued the offense in the last two games. “We’re just not doing a good job. It’s not one thing. It’s everything we need to do a better job of. … We’re not scoring enough points. We’re not executing well enough on a down by down basis, certainly (not) at a high level (where) we should have our expectations set at.”
Can’t stop the run. I’ve covered this team since 2001, and I’ve seen some pretty bad run defenses. Given the changes the Patriots made this offseason — including the acquisition of Danny Shelton — and how bad the Detroit running game was over the first two games of the season, Sunday was one of the worst performances when it comes to stopping the run I’ve seen in recent franchise history. The Lions were one of the most ineffective running teams in the league coming into Sunday, but Detroit did whatever it wanted on the ground all night. The Detroit offensive line dominated the Patriots’ defensive front all night long — the Lions averaged a whopping 4.8 yards per carry and finished with 159 yards total. Whether it’s personnel or scheme or something else, New England needs to figure out something, and fast.
Kerryon Johnson is the Lions' first 100-yard rusher since Reggie Bush on Thanksgiving 2013, snapping a streak of 70 games without a 100-yard rusher, the 4th longest drought in NFL history.
h/t @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/uDGxoy4B7e
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 24, 2018
Tom. Brady.
And just like that it's a three-point game on @nbc! #SNF pic.twitter.com/sivzNW632I
— SNF on NBC (@SNFonNBC) September 24, 2018
What was more impressive tonight the elusiveness of #Lions RB Kerryon Johnson or the performance from the offensive line. In this clip, Kerryon shows off amazing moves to break pass arm tackles, while the other rookie displaces the line of scrimmage at LG, Frank Ragnow. pic.twitter.com/4so7Mu1nI0
— C&J Scouting (@c_jscouting) September 24, 2018
Stafford tosses a dime to @MarvinJonesJr for the TD!@Lions lead is back to 10. #OnePride
?: #NEvsDET on @SNFonNBC pic.twitter.com/IwWOBoO9TL
— NFL (@NFL) September 24, 2018