Patriots v.s. Lions Preview
This has to be a big bounce back week for the Patriots. They had a rough showing on both sides of the ball last week, but the Jaguars are a legit team in the NFL now. That game is in the past and we’re now onto Detroit. We get to see a familiar face in Matt Patricia as their head coach. He has looked like he has no control over his team through 2 weeks, making this a good rebound for New England.
We got an addition to the offense this week! Finally, another receiver that can (most likely) contribute! Josh Gordon has joined the Pats coming into this week. It is still undisclosed what kind of role he will play right away, but most likely it will not be a very big one. He might play upwards of 10-15 snaps and might just be a decoy on most of those plays. Look for him to be the reason Chris Hogan opens up for a bigger game. A guy like Darius Slay would lock up Hogan like #1 corners have. If they can get that kind of corner off him then he could make out well this week. It will be important to see if Cannon will play at right tackle this week. Ziggy Ansah is no joke and could wreak havoc on Brady if he is let loose. It could also affect Gronk if he needs to stay in with pass protection more. This could be a good week for Sony Michel to really find his feet in the NFL. The Jaguars was a tough team to debut against, but the way this defense has played look for him to prove his worth and have a breakout game.
Josh Gordon wasn’t the only addition this week. Cyrus Jones is back! Is nobody excited? Well there isn’t much reason to be. They most likely just needed somebody to return punts and chose him. But we have already had early issues with catching punts, and he has a history of muffing punts. Lets hope he’s a changed man and doesn’t play any defense. The Lions have a plethora of running backs, including former Patriot LeGarrette Blount. He shouldn’t be the main concern in the backfield. Theo Riddick will play his pass-catching role, but the guy to worry about is Kerryon Johnson. He is a multi-talented rookie that could surprise the Pats if they don’t account for him correctly. The wide receivers are scary. A group of scrub receivers with Blake Bortles made the Pats look dumb last week. The Lions have a legit group of receivers and Matt Stafford. That could absolutely kill the Pats if they don’t make some adjustments going into this game.
Overall, the Pats offense should be back to domination this week to win the game, and take advantage of mistakes the Lions make. This should be a good bounce-back win, 34-20 Pats.
-Jake Kobierski (@TheRealKobe83)
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