Mark Daniels

Sunday

Sep 23, 2018 at 9:08 PM Sep 24, 2018 at 12:48 AM


DETROIT — The Patriots' offense desperately needs some help.


The good news is that the team recently traded for Josh Gordon and will get Julian Edelman back in two weeks. The bad news is that neither one of those players was on the field Sunday night, and it showed as the Patriots lost to the Detroit Lions, 26-10.


To understand how bad it looked for Tom Brady and his group inside Ford Field, you need to understand how bad the Detroit Lions' defense has been. In the [...]

DETROIT — The Patriots' offense desperately needs some help.

The good news is that the team recently traded for Josh Gordon and will get Julian Edelman back in two weeks. The bad news is that neither one of those players was on the field Sunday night, and it showed as the Patriots lost to the Detroit Lions, 26-10.

To understand how bad it looked for Tom Brady and his group inside Ford Field, you need to understand how bad the Detroit Lions' defense has been. In the first two weeks, the group allowed 78 points. Their 39-points-per-game average was tied for last in the NFL. The defense gave up 48 points to the New York Jets and their rookie quarterback to start this season.

On Sunday, the Patriots made the Lions' defense look like the reincarnation of the 1985 Chicago Bears.

The Pats couldn’t run, throw or convert on third down. Meanwhile, the defense didn’t force a punt until there was 9:32 left in the game. They also allowed a Lions running back, Kerryon Johnson, to rush for more than 100 yards — which hasn’t happened since Thanksgiving in 2013.

The combination has the Patriots sitting at 1-2 to start this season. Next up for the Pats are the 3-0 Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

Brady finished this game 13 for 25 with 129 yards, a touchdown and an interception. The Patriots gained just 205 total yards compared to the Lions 414. This one was ugly from the start.

The Patriots played an uninspiring style of football in the first half as they went into the locker room down, 13-3. Through the first two quarters, the Patriots averaged 1.9 yards per carry. Brady had just 55 passing yards. The Lions outgained the Pats' offense 231 yards to 70 yards. The defense, without Trey Flowers, Patrick Chung or Eric Rowe, had zero quarterback hits.

The offense went three-and-out on their first three drives of the game.

On the first series, the Patriots squandered a 45-yard kickoff return by Cordarrelle Patterson, which set up the offense at the 42. The Patriots actually looked worse on their second drive. They gained negative yards (minus one). Phillip Dorsett also dropped two passes, on second and third down. The third series ended abruptly as the offense couldn’t gain a yard, failing on third-and-1.

The defense was better — but not by much. They bent a lot in the first half, but broke only once.

The Lions got off to a quicker start and took a 3-0 lead as Matt Prater hit a 39-yard field goal with 5:55 left in the first quarter. In the opening frame, the Patriots were outgained in yards, 126-to-5. Brady was 1-of-4 for minus one yard in the quarter.

The Patriots didn’t start the second quarter much better. Soon enough, the Pats were down 10-0 as Matthew Stafford hit Kenny Galloday for a 3-yard touchdown pass with 14:12 left in the second quarter.

The defense looked sloppy on the Lions’ third scoring drive. They aided Detroit with back-to-back flags for a hold and too many men on the field, but the Patriots made a stop on third-and-goal, at the 7-yard line, to force Prater to kick the 25-yard field goal with 4:58 left in the second.

With 3:55 left in the second quarter, the Patriots offense achieved its initial first down — thanks to Rob Gronkowski's 9-yard catch to open the drive. He added a 15-yard catch for the team’s second chain-mover. The Pats' offensive problems weren’t solved on this drive as the team failed to gain a yard on third-and-1. Stephen Gostkowski made it 13-3 with a 36-yard field goal with 40 seconds left in the half.

The Patriots came out with some much-needed energy in the second half and closed the gap to 13-10.

Ja’Whaun Bentley kicked things off with an interception of Stafford with 13:41 left in the quarter. The play happened on a third down and gave the offense the ball at the 48-yard line. Brady and the offense wouldn’t waste this opportunity. Brady capped the drive off by hitting James White for a 10-yard touchdown at 10:10 of the third quarter.

The momentum didn’t carry over. The Lions extended their lead to 20-10 on the next drive. The Patriots couldn’t get off the field, allowing three third-down conversions. Stafford then hit Marvin Jones for a 33-yard touchdown at 3:42 of the third.

Detroit extended its lead to 23-10, opening up the fourth quarter with a 32-yard Prater field goal. Meanwhile, the Patriots' offense went three-and-out in the ensuing drive. The next time Brady took the field, he was intercepted by Darius Slay with 7:39 left in the game. On the next series, the offense turned the ball over on downs, giving the Lions the ball back at the New England 13-yard line, gifting Detroit a 30-yard field goal.