Patriots Have A Must Win Game Sunday Against Lions

By: Steve Atkinson

The Patriots play the Lions Sunday, and it is a must-win for them. They are 1-3 and without Mac Jones after dealing with a high ankle sprain. Bailey Zappe will get the start and regardless though they should be able to win the game. Matt Patricia the offensive play caller for the Patriots will be facing his old team on Sunday that he destroyed when he was the head coach of the Lions. For Bill Belichick’s Patriots, it’s all about finding a way to win games, and if you fall flat on Sunday to the Lions that wouldn’t be a good look.

Patriots Look To Bounce Back Sunday With A Win Over Detroit

The Patriots have the talent to win they went toe to toe last week with the Packers in overtime. Patriots caught a few breaks but overall, Zappe played well. Do we not forget the people that were so high on Jarrett Stidham who was also drafted in the fourth round in 2019. Everyone was talking about him being the next best thing even the next Brady. Now, he’s the backup to Derek Carr in Las Vegas because he didn’t take the position seriously in New England.

People love the unknown and think every time a quarterback comes to New England, they will be the next Tom Brady. Hate to break it to you that’ll never happen as long as Zappe wins you games while Jones is out that’s all that matters. Enough with the, he’s going to take Mac’s job and he’s the next Brady. Not going to happen Jones isn’t even Brady. Bailey Zappe spoke about how he’s approaching the week

“The same way I have for the past four weeks. Just taking it day-by-day, continuing to get better every day. Kind of have the mindset of one percent better every day. Kind of taking it that way and just going to practice every day with the mindset of taking every rep like a game rep. Just getting better every day.”

Bill Belichick Still Thinks It’s The Day’s With Tom Brady On The Team

Bill Belichick was his typical normal self with the media when it comes to injuries and the quarterbacks. He also said that the responsibility falls on him when it comes to the offensive playcalling.

 “We’ve talked about this ad nauseum. Maybe we can take notes this time to say that I’m responsible for all of it. Which is what I’ve said from day one. That’s what I continue to say. There hasn’t been any change in that. I’m responsible for what is called and what’s done on the field.”

I expect the defense to play well too and slow the Lions offense down. Matt Judon was all over the place last week and I expect the same this week. The run game should be good with Stevenson and Harris in the backfield. Maybe even some end-arounds like we saw last week in the Green Bay game with Kendrick Bourne. Hopefully, the refs are better, and no missed calls are done like last week with the delay of game penalty.

It does help Zappe gets first-team reps this week in practice to prepare for the Lions game. Robert Kraft loves Zappe and felt he should’ve started last week instead of Brian Hoyer. Also, we can’t forget they are wearing their old uniforms again this week for the first time in a decade. I hope they don’t play like how they used to play in those uniforms back in the day before Super Bowls. They should win this game with no excuses the Lions really are still the Lions at the end of the day. They aren’t very good.