The New England Patriots travel to Munich, Germany, ahead of their bye week to take on the 6-2 Detroit Lions on Sunday. While the Patriots remain in line to make the playoffs despite being ravaged by injuries, last week was a wake-up call.
After narrowly beating a rebuilding Dolphins squad in Week 8, the Patriots were embarrassed on their home turf by the Packers, the second loss this season in as many games to NFC North teams. Before the fourth quarter even began, the Packers had scored 42 points and went on to end the game with 45.
It was the most points allowed by the Patriots at home since 1970 and the most allowed in the history of Gillette Stadium.
While the Packers had an inconsistent offense coming into New England, the Lions rank top-five in points per game. If New England's defense plays the way it did on Sunday, it's going to be a long day regardless of what the offense manages to put together.
A lifeline for the team, however, is Detroit's struggling defense. It ranks 17th in the league now, but the unit ranked 30th just three weeks ago.
While their bye week may have contributed to their improvement, the Lions played a pair of offenses currently ranking in the bottom six of the league. Their matchups against the Vikings and Dolphins bracketed a game against the Packers, who ranked 23rd before their drubbing of the Patriots.
The Lions' defense is far from elite, and per recent reports, Detroit is expected to be without one of its few stars against the Patriots.
The Lions' defense will likely be without Kerby Joseph against the Patriots
The Lions' defense, despite its shortcomings, has some excellent players. Jack Campbell's scary injury two weeks ago means he'll be sidelined for the foreseeable future, but superstar edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson and defensive back Brian Branch are among the league's best.
One player the Lions fear they will be missing, however, is Kerby Joseph. The former Illinois safety has played just six games all season, missing time with a knee injury. His last game was a trip to Arrowhead to take on the Chiefs last month.
Head coach Dan Campbell feels confident his defense will be missing Joseph in Germany, saying, “I’ll cut [the speculation] out — I don’t see him playing."
The Lions have deployed veteran Chuck Clark and rookie Keith Abney II in his place. They also traded for former Jaguars and Jets safety Andre Cisco on Monday. Veterans Thomas Harper and Avonte Maddox, who each played roles in the back end last year, are on injured reserve.
Drake Maye struggled immensely against the Packers' safeties last week. His three interceptions were all thrown to either Xavier McKinney or Evan Williams, and all in the first half. Branch is at the level of the Packers' duo, as is Joseph when healthy.
New England has the chance to take advantage. Clark is a solid veteran, but he isn't at the level of Joseph. The same goes for Cisco, but it seems unlikely he'll play significant snaps, if any, given his recent acquisition. Abney is not yet an established player.
While New England is the underdog for a reason, the offense has an opportunity to produce more than it has over the past few weeks despite its laundry list of injuries. The Lions defense is far from a scary one, especially without the hard-hitting Joseph.
If the Patriots can limit Goff's offense to 21 points or so, they'll have a real shot to tick the win column.
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