Sunday in Germany could have been a turning point for the Patriots’ season. Instead, it became another low point, as they suffered a humiliating blowout loss to the Detroit Lions.
Now, as they make the long flight back to New England ahead of their bye week, the Patriots have plenty of soul-searching to do. Their season continues to teeter after another disappointing performance, leaving the team with more questions than answers heading into the break.
Here are three takeaways from the Patriots’ 35-10 loss to the Lions, which dropped them to 5-5, marked their first back-to-back losses under Mike Vrabel, and left them with a 3-5 record and a -61 point differential against teams with winning records.
Drake Maye wasn’t there to save the day
The Patriots lost quarterback Drake Maye to an ankle injury on the opening drive of the game after he was sacked by Lions star Aidan Hutchinson, who also suffered an injury while celebrating the sack.
Head coach Mike Vrabel did not have an update on his star quarterback in the immediate aftermath of the game. Maye is expected to undergo additional testing on his ankle when the team returns to New England.
If there was any doubt about just how important Maye is to the Patriots’ offense, which there shouldn’t be, Sunday’s game made it abundantly clear.
On their lone drive with Maye, the Patriots marched 60 yards on 11 plays. They had a chance to come away with a touchdown, but two pre-snap penalties inside the five-yard line derailed the drive. After reaching second-and-goal from the Detroit 3-yard line, a false start on Will Campbell, a throwaway, and a delay of game pushed the Patriots back to third-and-goal from the 13. Maye was then sacked and injured on the play, forcing New England to settle for a field goal.
From there, the offense was anemic.
Over their next seven drives, excluding a kneel-down at the end of the first half, the Patriots totaled just 34 yards on 25 plays, averaging 1.36 yards per play. It’s worth noting that 30 of those yards came on a defensive pass interference penalty against the Lions. Take that away, and the Patriots gained just four yards of offense on 24 plays.
They punted on six of those drives and threw an interception on another. Five of the seven possessions ended in three-and-outs.
The Patriots did manage a 13-play, 87-yard touchdown drive on their first possession of the fourth quarter, but followed it up with two consecutive three-and-outs.
The offensive struggles weren’t entirely on backup quarterback Tommy DeVito, as the unit struggled across the board. But he certainly didn’t help matters. DeVito finished 12-of-24 for 81 yards with a touchdown and a costly interception, failing to provide anything close to the production the Patriots get from Maye.
All told, the Patriots totaled 117 yards on 45 plays without Maye, averaging just 2.6 yards per play. Even more concerning, 45 of those yards (38.5%) came from Detroit penalties.
The bye week should help give Maye some time to recover, but there’s no getting around the fact that if he misses extended time, the Patriots are in deep, deep trouble. So much of their offensive success this season has been Maye playing Superman and elevating an offense that, largely because of injuries, has a below-average supporting cast, something DeVito clearly isn’t capable of.
The defense was torn apart … again
Defense is supposed to be a calling card for Mike Vrabel-coached teams. This season, it’s been anything but.
After allowing 45 points and 478 yards to the Green Bay Packers last week, the Patriots followed it up by surrendering 35 points and 494 yards of total offense to the Detroit Lions. Detroit’s 494 yards were the most the Patriots have allowed in the Mike Vrabel era, surpassing the 478 Green Bay put up a week ago.
Over their last two games, the Patriots have allowed 972 yards, their most in a two-game span since September 1994, when they surrendered 991 to Jim Kelly’s Bills and Dan Marino’s Dolphins.
They’ve also allowed 80 points over that stretch, their most over a two-game span in 55 years, dating back to Weeks 5 and 6 of the 1971 season, when they surrendered 85. It’s just the sixth time in franchise history that the Patriots have allowed at least 80 points over a two-game span.
Led by running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who had more receiving yards (99) than the Patriots had passing yards (90), more than twice as many rushing yards (153) as the entire Patriots team, and more total yards (252) than New England had as a team (151), the Lions had their way with the Patriots all afternoon.
Detroit totaled 303 yards through the air (8.9 yards per pass) and 191 on the ground (5.6 yards per rush), averaging 7.3 yards per play. The Lions converted 8 of 15 third downs (53.3%) and generated six plays of 20+ yards, including five of 25+ and two of 50+. According to PFF’s initial charting, the Patriots missed 12 tackles.
The struggles aren’t limited to the last two weeks. Through 10 weeks, the Patriots have now allowed four opponents to score at least 30 points (Jacksonville, Chicago, Green Bay, and Detroit). In 21 games last season, including the playoffs, they allowed just one opponent to reach 30 points: Buffalo, which scored 35 in Week 14.
The Patriots’ struggles have been particularly glaring against the NFC North, which is widely regarded as the best division in football. All three division opponents they’ve faced (Chicago, Green Bay and Detroit) have recorded at least 400 yards of offense. The Patriots didn’t allow a single opponent to reach 400 yards all of last season, including the playoffs. Meanwhile, NFC North teams have averaged 459 yards and 36.6 points per game against New England.
It’s losing football. And, to no surprise, the Patriots are 0-4 this season when allowing 30 or more points.
A.J. Brown’s nightmare start to Patriots tenure continues
After missing the previous two games with a lingering knee injury that forced him to sit out against the Dolphins in Week 8 and the Packers in Week 9, A.J. Brown returned Sunday. However, he once again failed to make it through the game, exiting in the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury.
When he was on the field, there wasn’t much to show for it, either. Brown’s return was largely underwhelming, continuing what has been a frustrating and disappointing start to his Patriots tenure. Through 10 weeks, he has played only two games from start to finish (Jets and Bears).
Brown, whom the Patriots acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick, caught just two of his six targets for 27 yards. He also had a drop and was called for a false start on third down, while going without a catch through the first three quarters.
Brown’s tenure with the Patriots has been a nightmare to this point. He has caught just 11 of his 26 targets for 128 yards and has yet to find the end zone. For perspective, Brown has recorded 17 games in his career with more than 128 receiving yards.
So far, the Brown trade has been a massive failure.
